If you’re looking for pieces on Jack Idema and his team, please click on this link.

Even though the boys are at Pulacharke Prison in Afghanistan, they are in the physical custody of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, they are, in fact, in the actual custody and control of the American government, the FBI (and should have protection from the American Embassy), as they are American citizens and not Afghans.

There have been some severe violations of law here. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. The Geneva Conventions are relative to both Combatants and non combatants in time of war and accompany said protocols. THE US and the government of Afghanistan are both signatories to those agreements and/or conventions. Those violations give rise to liberty restraint complaints.

In other words, legally, they should be set free…they were declared innocent in March.

If all of this isn’t enough, they were tortured, threatened and psychologically and emotionally abused and starved, denied their rights, had their property stolen, and were denied the right of counsel and more. This all violates the US Constitution, the Geneva Convention on Human Rights, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and so on.

There were also violations of the Afghan Criminal Code for Courts, the Afghan Penal Code, and the Status of Forces Agreement between the US and Afghanistan. No forma Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) exists by that name, but the US denied the existence of a SOFA to international monitoring organizations such as the Red Cross, and an agreement does exist relative to US combatants in Afghanistan, which includes citizens operating with resistance forces such as Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud’s United Front Military Forces (aka Northern Alliance). This agreement was signed in September, October, and updated in November of 2001, in Khoja-Bahaudeen and the Panshir, and this was a letter of agreement which awarded status to military, para-military and civilian forces operating against the Taliban and the Al Qaeda terrorists.

Karzai assured the US his government would abide by those laws in order to obtain financial support from the US and international community (i.e., Italy). Based on those assurances by Karzai, which the US relied upon, Afghanistan got financial support and US tax dollars for reconstruction, security and equipment. US taxpayers provided the handcuffs and training which were used to torture Idema and his men….believe it…it happened.

Thanks to OTB

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