June 2007

by Erin Genia

Chechnya falls outside Americans' awareness of international affairs, despite the dire impact of US foreign policy on the embattled republic. Russia is a key US counter-terrorism ally whose participation in the "war on terror" legitimizes its conquest of Chechnya.

The media is responsible for public approval of atrocities against the Chechen people by issuing reports that omit crucial realities of the crisis -- its history, pervading human rights abuses, and impunity -- in addition, bias is exhibited in assertions that all Chechens are Muslim "terrorists." Many journalists who do . . .

April 2006

by Erin Genia

On March 11, 150 people participated in the "Real Security for All" demonstration in Tacoma, which linked the injustices of US immigration and deportation policies with our aggressive foreign policy, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Participants marched from the Northwest Detention Center to the Pacific Northwest National Security Forum, a military conference focused on the future of the armed forces. Erin Genia, the coordinator of Olympia Amnesty International and one of the event's organizers, gave the following speech at the demonstration.-- Alice . . .

January 2006

by Erin Genia

President Bush recently declared, "we do not torture," but ample evidence contradicts his claim. Perhaps most glaring is Vice President Cheney's attempt to immunize the CIA from torture prohibitions.

In the so-called "war on terror," the rule of law has been corroded by torture, prisoner mistreatment, indefinite detentions and "disappearances" by U.S. hands. Documented abuses include hooding, stress positions, withholding necessities, physical and sexual assault, religious animosity and humiliation. "Rendition" -- the transferral of detainees to countries that practice torture . . .