tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post7062081748661470212..comments2024-01-26T10:20:37.836+00:00Comments on Diary of a Goldfish: In defence of the Human Rights Act (with thrilling house martin action)The Goldfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-40153654242939873252007-05-25T19:46:00.000+01:002007-05-25T19:46:00.000+01:00Part of it, as you say, is down to the unbalanced ...Part of it, as you say, is down to the unbalanced reporting in the media. They can be quite punctilious (sp?) about using terms like "alleged terrorists" and "terrorism suspects" but when an article presents big bits of evidence against the suspects, and none of the evidence that is in their favour, and doesn't say "it's important to remember these people have not been convicted (or in some cases, even <I>charged</I>) of any crime"... then I feel the average article-reader can be forgiven for mentally painting the suspects as fully-fledged terriers.<BR/><BR/>My own beef with Human Rights is when criminals - and when I use that term I mean those who have actually been convicted and sentenced for a crime - do better out of it than law-abiding individuals. I realise this is more due to the crapness of the outside world than the "softness" of a prison, but it does suck when Granny feels she can't afford to eat properly or have the heating on due to the constraints of her state pension, but a fed and warm prisoner is amusing himself by using up state time, state money and state resources on bringing one of the "frivolous" cases you mention.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639094548415759560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-45480817850819820112007-05-25T17:51:00.000+01:002007-05-25T17:51:00.000+01:00That was a great programme, Sara, thanks for the l...That was a great programme, Sara, thanks for the link.<BR/><BR/>Of course, our (now down to five) detainees at Belmarsh don't really compare to Guantanamo Bay, but it is born the same mentality. It's not that our governments are innately tyrannous and lock up people for fun, but they make errors of judgement and get away with those errors when the rest of us are too scared of the thing they are allegedly protecting us from.<BR/><BR/>Habeas Corpus is the original thing which protected us. The Human Rights Act extends that somewhat, criminalising all torture, protecting freedom of speech, criminalising discrimination, criminalising various forms of interference in our lives.The Goldfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-84827084188052636212007-05-25T15:13:00.000+01:002007-05-25T15:13:00.000+01:00Awesome, thrilling house martin action and all. :...Awesome, thrilling house martin action and all. :)<BR/><BR/>This is very interesting for someone who cringes at the mere word "Guantanamo" to read. I had no idea similar things were happening in your country.<BR/><BR/>Humans. Geez.<BR/><BR/>You might find this an interesting listen:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=331" REL="nofollow"><I>This American Life</I>, episode 331: "Habeas Schmabeas" (2007)</A><BR/><BR/>I believe it illustrates your position rather well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com