Gulf Daily News – 7 August 2006
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED
AN American online political group has launched a torrent of abuse at a Bahraini inmate at Guantanamo Bay – offering to send him a rope to hang himself with after his latest appeal for freedom was published in the GDN last Thursday.
Responding to a letter in which Al Dossary says “get me out of here or let me die”, members of the US website Free Republic offered to arrange death for him.
The website, which claims to represent “grass-roots conservatism”, has been banned from using entire copyrighted articles from US media giants The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times after the two newspapers sued the group for doing so.
Gulf Daily News – 7 August 2006
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED
AN American online political group has launched a torrent of abuse at a Bahraini inmate at Guantanamo Bay – offering to send him a rope to hang himself with after his latest appeal for freedom was published in the GDN last Thursday.
Responding to a letter in which Al Dossary says “get me out of here or let me die”, members of the US website Free Republic offered to arrange death for him.
The website, which claims to represent “grass-roots conservatism”, has been banned from using entire copyrighted articles from US media giants The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times after the two newspapers sued the group for doing so.
Postings on the site contain numerous racial slurs against Arabs and Muslims, as well as a photo and mailing address of Al Dossary’s American lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, who heads a legal team representing the three Bahraini detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Comments range from expressions of happiness at Al Dossary’s desperate plea, such as “good news out of Gitmo”, to posts calling for more “death worshippers and Jihadists chasing martyrdom” to die.
Responding to Al Dossary’s ultimatum “get me home or let me die”, site member Gay State Conservative writes: “Happy to oblige, Abdul … on both counts.
“We can arrange for (you) to fall, backwards, onto the business end of an ice pick that a Marine has carelessly left in your cell.
“And we’ll leave it in the back of your head as we send your remains to southern Lebanon for burial.”
A more moderate comment by member Lady in Red claims the Guantanamo Bay detainees have been treated “too good”, despite them being locked up for almost five years without charge or trial.
“There are no words,” she writes. “These people are treated too good in my opinion and I feel no sympathy for them in the least. Die already.”
More extreme members called for Al Dossary’s suicide to be shown live on television “so we can all enjoy this carpet flyer’s trip to the land of 72 virgins,” writes member Bobby 223.
The comments also target Al Dossary’s lawyer, Mr Colangelo-Bryan, whose New York-based firm Dorsey and Whitney is representing the three remaining Bahraini detainees for free.
“I vote for sending the lawyer’s (remains) along with the Jihadist’s,” writes Lone Ranger Massachusetts.
Comments also dismiss the June 10 deaths of three Guantanamo detainees in apparent suicides as “a ploy” and decry the use of Americans’ tax money to “feed and house” detainees – claiming that allegations of prisoner abuse are unfounded.
A Bahraini human rights activist who has been campaigning for detainees’ right to fair and legal proceedings yesterday condemned the comments on the website as incitement to religious and racial hatred.
Vice-president of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) “These comments are sickening – and are an incitement to racial or religious hatred,” said Mr Rajab.
“What they are saying goes against human rights by spreading hatred and we should urge the government to work for an end to the misuse of the Internet to spread hatred against certain races or religions.
“However, I am sure the American people are better than the way they are represented on this site,” he added.
“I don’t think this kind of mentality is popular and it may be an isolated group of people who use this kind of language and hold these opinions.”
Mr Rajab also criticised the targeting of Al Dossary’s lawyer, adding that the opinions seemed to represent an isolated minority in the US.
“I think the US today should be proud that they have lawyers like Joshua Colangelo-Bryan’s team – in fact those lawyers today are rebuilding the reputation which the politicians and the administration in the US are destroying,” he said. A spokesman for the US Embassy in Bahrain yesterday said it had no comment.