I'm immediately reminded of Terry Pratchett's "octarine" (referenced frequently in the Discworld books) and David Lindsay's "jale" and "ulfire" (in A Voyage to Arcturus). I'm sure other spec fic authors have made reference to colors that human beings can't usually perceive, either because they don't exist on earth (dubious) or because we're not equipped to see them (more plausible). Makes me wonder whether some synesthetes see ultraviolet, or infrared, or sound waves, when they look at numbers or letters or shapes.
Dave Lartigue: I would start with the Wikipedia article on the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. While Wikipedia itself is not an authoritative source, there are lots of links at the bottom to external sites that may prove useful. See also the article on Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse.
Thanks for the clarifying comments here and in my journal. I look forward to seeing how it all hashes out.
I certainly agree that morally and pragmatically there is no justification for torture and never has been. I hope some agreement can be reached (among the people discussing the topic on my LJ, and in the national and international legal communities) that there is no legal justification for it either.
I'm corrected: Iraq is indeed a signatory. The issue is apparently more of those who fail to "carry arms openly" or observe the proprieties of the Conventions, and of al Qaeda and other "independent" fighters who are not party to them. As I said, I know very little about all of this! I'm hoping those here who know more can educate me.
Hi Jim,
When I reposted this in my LiveJournal (with all attributions etc. intact), I got a response saying that it doesn't hold for anything currently going on because of Article 2 of the Geneva Conventions, which says that the Conventions "shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties". Since Iraq and Iran are not on that list, they don't get the benefits. Article 3, as you quoted, refers to "armed conflict not of an international character" (which would exclude making war on another country) and "in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties" (which would exclude the current war and all likely near-future ones). Are you intending this to only refer to Americans detained in armed conflict on American soil? I would really love to see these rules applied to all prisoners ever, but when you're talking about the letter of the law, I confess I don't quite see your point in this instance.
I'm not a lawyer and I'm not well-versed in international or military law, so I would really appreciate discussion on this topic from people who know more about it than I do.
I didn't know him at all. I knew his words, a bit. I'm not a Making Light regular.
But I have just the barest sense of what he meant to everyone here, and my heart goes out to all of you. I am so very sorry.
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