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Title: Guantanamo Bay Prisoner Sues U.S. to Get a Bible: The government says certain books are withheld because they could 'incite' inmates.
Source:
L.A. Times
URL Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw ... 76454.story?coll=la-home-world
Published: Nov 22, 2005
Author: Richard A. Serrano
Post Date: 2005-11-24 14:18:02 by aristeides
Keywords: Guantanamo, government, Prisoner
Views: 274
Comments: 27
Guantanamo Bay Prisoner Sues U.S. to Get a Bible The government says certain books are withheld because they could 'incite' inmates. By Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — At the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, everyone can get a Koran, but no one gets a Bible. Saifullah Paracha, a 58-year-old former Pakistani businessman with alleged ties to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been in U.S. custody since 2003. Like the other inmates at Guantanamo Bay, he has a copy of the Koran. But he also wants an English translation of the King James version of the Bible. Paracha believes that because the Bible is one of the scriptures accepted in Islam, he is entitled to a copy to read in his small wire-mesh cell. But after his lawyer shipped him a Bible, along with two volumes of Shakespeare, prison officials confiscated the package. Paracha's American lawyer filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, demanding that Paracha be given the Bible and copies of "Hamlet" and "Julius Caesar." The government responded that certain books were kept from prisoners because they could "incite" them. Whether the Bible or the Koran, prayer might seem appropriate for Paracha. The allegations against him are serious. The government contends that through his international packaging company, Paracha conspired to ship chemical components to the United States to help set off an attack by Al Qaeda terrorists. His son Uzair Paracha, 25, is on trial in New York on charges that he tried to help an Al Qaeda operative enter the country and plan the intended attack. The son, if convicted, faces as much as 75 years in prison. The father could receive a life sentence. Both men insist they are innocent. At his status review hearing last year, Saifullah Paracha conceded that he had met Bin Laden socially, and that the terrorist leader had given him a copy of the Koran. "He was a prophet," Paracha said. The practice of religion has been a sore point for the Guantanamo Bay detainees. This year, tempers flared and hunger strikes were launched over allegations that copies of the Koran had been desecrated at the prison by U.S. guards. One account alleged that a Koran was flushed down a toilet. The U.S. government denied the report, but it set off riots in Muslim countries. Paracha's Washington lawyer, Gaillard T. Hunt, said he met with Paracha in September and learned that his client had "been in solitary confinement with very little communication with anyone for most of the last year. I learned that he has been requesting a Bible. From my general knowledge, I knew that the Bible (the Old and New Testaments) is accepted in Islam as one of their holy texts, so I interpreted this as a religious request." On Sept. 30, Hunt said, he purchased a Bible and mailed it, still in the publisher's shrink-wrap cover, to a chaplain at the naval base. He included a cover letter explaining it was for Prisoner No. 1094, at Paracha's request. Also in the package were the two plays and an English dictionary. When Hunt visited in October, Paracha told him nothing had arrived. Hunt said one of the military lawyers "explained to me that Paracha would not be allowed to have a Bible, as that would violate prison policy." Last week, a government lawsuit filed in response said none of the more than 500 prisoners was permitted special treatment. Government lawyers said Paracha had not shown that the practice of his religion had been "substantially burdened" because he did not have a copy of the Bible. They also argued that letting Paracha have a Bible would set off a "chain reaction" among the other 170 detainees who are suing the government in Washington courts, asking for relief from prison through some sort of court hearing. Although a judge has not sorted out the dispute, the prison has recently "cleared for release" the Shakespeare plays. But still no Bible for Paracha.
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#1. To: aristeides (#0)
Hmm now this is rather interesting.. considering some of the recent thoughts re the bible.. Wonder how this is sitting with the "kill all muslims" brigade who claim they're Christians?
Can't have them reading the Book of Daniel or the Book of Judith, can we now?
Remember what Ann Coulter said about the muslims ?? Guess they dont want any possibility of converts to Christianity..
They gave Hermann Goering & Co. a damned trial ferchrissakes! What are our bastards afraid of?? Methinks these prisoners know too much. Evidently just too much dirty laundry has been accumulated at Gitmo and other assorted stalags and no one wants it aired in open court.
And what new Dreyfus, his hour come round at last, What are our bastards afraid of?? Methinks these prisoners know too much. Evidently just too much dirty laundry has been accumulated at Gitmo and other assorted stalags and no one wants it aired in open court. Excellent point.. and good question.. The ncocons appear on every venue they can defending this insanity.. sure makes you wonder doesnt it?
I think you've told me that you read Hans Fallada's Jeder Stirbt für Sich Allein. I discover that a movie was made of the novel in 1975, with the excellent actors Carl Raddatz and Hildegard Knef playing the doomed couple. I sure would like to see it, but I can't find any listing of a videotape or DVD. I believe I've already recommended to you the recent French television production of The Count of Monte Cristo. The actors, from Depardieu on down, are excellent, but what really makes the production is the musical score.
I read it after you mentioned it on FR. I really liked it. There was a wide array of interesting characters, but the one who stuck with me the most was the police detective assigned to track them down, and how his failure led to his own disgrace, and he got a taste of his own medicine. That Count of Monte Cristo sounds good.
Speaking of DVD's, the longer, German television version of Das Boot recently appeared on Region 1 DVD, so I was able to acquire and watch it. I suppose there's always hope that might happen with Jeder Stirbt für Sich Allein, but I doubt it. I think what I ought to do, since I live in the D.C. area, is to ask the German embassy and the local Goethe Institute to have a showing.
Yes, the Gestapo investigator really struck me too. I wonder who acted that role in the movie.
The Goehe Institute would probably do all they could to get it. I used to go to movies at their Atlanta branch when I lived there.
It turns out Fallada's father was a (pre-Nazi, of course) judge, so he must have had experience with investigations. The last two movies Fritz Lang made in Germany, M and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, both concern police investigations. In fact, the police investigator in both, played by the same actor, Otto Wernicke, is based on a real Berlin detective, who had just played a major role in the detection of a notorious serial murderer. (Wernicke's acting reminds me a lot of Peter Falk's in Columbo.) The head of the Gestapo, Heinrich Müller, had been a non-Nazi police investigator in Munich under the Weimar Republic. Shows how a dictatorship can misuse police officials.
It would be a plum role for a good character actor. I saw Depardieu in Marcel Aymé's "Uranus," which is about the goings-on in a French town after WW2. I liked Aymé's novels, because he depicted the reality and hypocrisy of how the French behaved during the occupation and the aftermath. Consequently he became somewhat controversial.
Clouzot's first movie, Le Corbeau, released already under Vichy, is a mordant view of the hypocrisy of the French under Vichy rule. It's about denunciation in a small town. Since it was released under Vichy rule and subject to German censorship, the denunciation in the movie is not political, but that's obviously what Clouzot had in mind.
Some really excellent movies were made under Vichy. Having to deal with censorship can make4 artists a lot more subtle. Les visiteurs du soir -- when you think about it -- is obviously about the Nazis and Vichy, but ostensibly it's about the Middle Ages.
That was the memorable thing about the investigation for me, the interference by the investigator's Nazi superiors. He was a pro who had this layer of Nazi brutality and incompetence imposed above him, and it eventually destroyed him. But the interplay between him and his Nazi superiors was some of the best parts of the book.
That is interesting. I had no idea they accomplished anything.
Les enfants du paradis was made under Vichy (although released after the Liberation.)
no doubt, but it seems the torture was/is so pervasive, there's no keeping it a secret.
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war. – Donald Rumsfeld
That is interesting. I had no idea they accomplished anything. Same here. I'll try to find some. My eldest son is very fond of The Count of Monte Cristo, and we both prefer the version with Depardieu. Now I can't remember which one he said followed the novel more truly. Also, in college I read a Hans Fallada once. It was about a family on vacation, a lowkey family comedy. As I recall from my prof, he used that nom de plume to avoid political problems?
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war. – Donald Rumsfeld
I don't know. I'd never heard of him until aristeides mentioned his book on FR, and that's the only one of his books I've read.
Speaking again of the Dreyfus case, it looks like we have a contemporary equivalent. There's a spectacular review in the new Dec. 15 edition of the New York Review of Books of Muslim chaplain Capt. Yee's new book, For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire . I think I'm going to order the book.
Thanks for the link to Captain Yee's book. I still find it difficult to fathom that he was initially placed in solitary confinement for about two months.
The review makes a strong case that Gen. Miller was behind the treatment of Capt. Yee.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/185 50 I just read the review by Joseph Lelyveld.
Thanks for the link.
Sounds like a great book.
#2. To: All (#0)
#3. To: aristeides (#2)
#4. To: aristeides (#0)
#5. To: aristeides (#0)
Crouches in Guantanamo, waiting to arise?
I've already said too much.
#6. To: randge (#4)
They gave Hermann Goering & Co. a damned trial ferchrissakes!
#7. To: MUDDOG (#5)
#8. To: aristeides (#7)
I've already said too much.
#9. To: MUDDOG (#5)
#10. To: MUDDOG (#8)
#11. To: aristeides (#9)
I've already said too much.
#12. To: MUDDOG (#8)
#13. To: aristeides (#10)
Yes, the Gestapo investigator really struck me too. I wonder who acted that role in the movie.
I've already said too much.
#14. To: MUDDOG (#13)
#15. To: MUDDOG (#13)
#16. To: aristeides (#12)
Shows how a dictatorship can misuse police officials.
I've already said too much.
#17. To: aristeides (#15)
Some really excellent movies were made under Vichy.
I've already said too much.
#18. To: MUDDOG (#17)
#19. To: randge (#4)
Methinks these prisoners know too much. Evidently just too much dirty laundry has been accumulated at Gitmo and other assorted stalags and no one wants it aired in open court.
#20. To: MUDDOG, aristeides (#17)
Some really excellent movies were made under Vichy.
#21. To: robin (#20)
he used that nom de plume to avoid political problems?
I've already said too much.
#22. To: MUDDOG, Fred Mertz (#5)
#23. To: aristeides (#22)
#24. To: Fred Mertz (#23)
#25. To: aristeides (#24)
The Supreme Court ruled last year that federal courts do have some jurisdiction over detainees, after all. But no court order has affected the life of a single prisoner and now—in view of the moves underway in the Senate to limit the jurisdiction of the courts in Guantánamo cases—it's far from clear that any ever will. Nor has any detainee been convicted of anything, by a military commission or anyone else. We didn't need Chaplain Yee to remind us that Guantánamo has become an embarrassment. What this former insider shows us is that it's a place of misery day in day out, year in year out.
#26. To: Fred Mertz (#25)
#27. To: aristeides (#22)
For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire
I've already said too much.
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