[thechat] 103 Pak prisoners return from US - PakTribune
Erika Meyer
emeyer at lclark.edu
Wed Mar 19 17:00:21 CST 2003
Syed:
>Some of them have even showed the scars of
>torture; torture, which was done by USA police in jails.
oh yeah. police. torture. FWIW we don't usually call it torture
here, it's not that systematic. It's usually just brutality, and it
happens all the time. I have three stories for you.
I used to be a bartender. One of my regular patrons was a skinny
(105 lbs) Mexican-American college student. Very nice young man; we
had lots of fascinating discussions about politics and culture.
One day he drank a bit too much over a long afternoon (I thought he
was walking, but he was driving). He got picked up for DUI. They
took him into Humboldt County jail. You are supposed to get a phone
call in jail. They didn't let him call home to tell his wife and new
baby what was going on. He said cops were very mean and trying to
provoke him.
Finally, frustrated, he lost his temper and hit his fist against the
bars of the cell. Big policeman went into his cell and threw him
hard against the wall.
My friend told the guards he was hurt, he wanted to see a doctor.
They let him see jail nurse. Nurse says he's ok, sends him back to
the cell. Next day he is released, drives himself directly to the
hospital where they find he has a BROKEN NECK and immediately put a
huge neck brace on him, which he wore for months. He can't work, has
to drop out of all his classes last weeks of the semester. Last I
talked to him he was considering legal action.
About a year later, another very close friend, American Indian man...
age 36, was picked up (it is unclear why... he was manic-depressive,
maybe behaving erratically). They pepper sprayed him. Had no
alcohol or drugs in his system. No one would say exactly why he was
arrested or sprayed. Anyway, he died in jail, mysteriously. The
police would say nothing about the circumstances.
About 10 days ago my daughter's 19 year old cousin (again, American
Indian) was killed by an off duty corrections officer. This cousin
was walking along the side of a wide highway early in the morning
after fishing. There is not a lot of traffic at this time or place
on the reservation. Somehow this policeman managed to run him over
and kill him.
What did the police do about it? Tested the VICTIM for alcohol and
drugs. (none found) Then question the victim's relatives and friends
as to his activities the day prior (he'd been playing baseball).
These are just people, I, a white "average American" know personally.
They were all Americans, friends relatives and neighbors... all in
rural northern California, minorities: people of color.
I just want to emphasize once again that the so-called unified
"voice" portrayed by US media is not at all unified nor do I believe
it truly represents majority opinion.
Take care, Syed.
Erika
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