Tuesday
Mar102009
The BBC and the UN Report on Torture: Shhhh, Don't Tell Anyone
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 13:27
Related Post: United Nations: US Tortured, Britain Followed
Related Post: Text - UN Report on Counter-Terrorism, Human Rights, and Torture
An hour ago I wrote about the United Nations report which has condemned the United States for creating a system of rendition, detention, and interrogation which violates basic human rights and allows torture and which has criticised countries such as Britain for their complicity in that system. I concluded that the report might be considered worthy of attention because it "comes from the UN, the international body to which the US and UK belong".
I apologise for my error: British newspapers are picking up on the initial report in The Guardian, but for the BBC, the story does not exist.
I have listened all morning to the Beeb's flagship radio news programme, Today. Not a word: the only reference to "torture" came from the daily religious meditation, "Thought for the Day", in which a Reverend Tom Butler reassured us that the Church no longers torture although there could be a "gray area" over issues like indefinite detention without charge.
The BBC News website is torture-free. So is Sky News, which prefers "Rock Chucking Chimp 'Proves Apes Plan Ahead'". Which, funnily enough, was a story I heard on the Today programme 20 minutes ago.
When a person is tortured by the State, that is not news. But if a person is tortured by a rock-chucking chimpanzee employed by the State....
Related Post: Text - UN Report on Counter-Terrorism, Human Rights, and Torture
An hour ago I wrote about the United Nations report which has condemned the United States for creating a system of rendition, detention, and interrogation which violates basic human rights and allows torture and which has criticised countries such as Britain for their complicity in that system. I concluded that the report might be considered worthy of attention because it "comes from the UN, the international body to which the US and UK belong".I apologise for my error: British newspapers are picking up on the initial report in The Guardian, but for the BBC, the story does not exist.
I have listened all morning to the Beeb's flagship radio news programme, Today. Not a word: the only reference to "torture" came from the daily religious meditation, "Thought for the Day", in which a Reverend Tom Butler reassured us that the Church no longers torture although there could be a "gray area" over issues like indefinite detention without charge.
The BBC News website is torture-free. So is Sky News, which prefers "Rock Chucking Chimp 'Proves Apes Plan Ahead'". Which, funnily enough, was a story I heard on the Today programme 20 minutes ago.
When a person is tortured by the State, that is not news. But if a person is tortured by a rock-chucking chimpanzee employed by the State....