Mon 5 Jun 2006
Dr. Dhafir is mentioned in the introduction to John Pilger’s new book, “Freedom Next Time”
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , Dhafir by others , Globalization/EmpireNo Comments
“In 2005, the US Senate, in effect, voted to abolish habeas corpus when it passed an amendment that overturned a Supreme Court ruling allowing Guantanamo Bay prisoners access to a federal court. Without habeas corpus and the ‘due process’ provisions of the Bill of Rights, a government can lock away its opponents and implement a dictatorship. A not untypical case is that of an American doctor who was punished with twenty-two years in prison for founding a charity, Help the Needy, which helped children in Iraq stricken by the economic blockade enforced by America and Britain in the 1990s. In raising money for infants dying from diarrhoea, Dr. Rafil Dhafir broke this seige which, according to UNICEF, has caused the deaths of a half a million infants under the age of five. The then Attorney-General, John Ashcroft, called Dr. Dhafir a ‘terrorist’, a description derided by even the judge in what was a transparently political trial.”
The book is published by Bantam Press (June 5, 2006), I will provide a link when I find the book available for sale in the U.S The book is now available in the U.K.: amazon.co.uk
Available in the U.S. at Amazon.com