Human rights at home?

Have the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prison scandals slowed down U.S. politicians’ jibes and attacks about “human rights” against governments that don’t bow to Washington? Not a bit. Imperialism’s spokespeople treat these concentration camps as if they are exceptions or as if they don’t exist at all. In truth, these two world-class crimes are only an extension of U.S. imperialism’s home-grown police state.

Let’s look at the numbers:

The United States is number one. Not in Olympic medals, but in number of prisoners. With 2.3 million total prisoners, that’s far ahead of China’s 1.6 million, even though China’s population is four times larger. And the U.S. is number one in prisoners per 100,000 residents. The figure is 690, compared to France’s 80, Italy’s 40 and nearby Canada’s 120.

Like most of U.S. social relations, the phenomenal prison growth is rooted in racism and national oppression. Black people are imprisoned at a rate of 1,815 per 100,000. Latin@s at 609. Native incarceration tops even these rates.

Central to this is the deeply ingrained, institutionalized extent of racist discrimination. But this shouldn’t obscure the fact that among whites, 235 per 100,000 are in prison. That is still three times the rate for all French people and six times the rate for Italians. Most of those in prison, of course, are poor. These figures show how socially corrosive U.S. corporate rule has become and how severe state repression must be for them to maintain control.

Enough statistics. The heavy police and prison repression is an especially vicious and racist weapon against the oppressed nations of African American, Latin@ and Native peoples. After 9/11, it also has turned with a vengeance against Arabs and South Asians.

Political dissidents in prison?

At this point, someone still trying to defend the U.S. record will argue, “These 2.3 million prisoners are criminals. There are no political prisoners.”

A look at this week’s Workers World puts that argument to rest.

Rev. Edward Pinkney, a Black civil rights leader in a small Michigan city, was sentenced to three to ten years in prison for something he wrote. Yes, something he wrote. In it he quoted the Bible. A judge called the quote “a threat.” It’s hard to imagine a more flagrant violation of Pinkney’s right to free speech. You don’t believe it? Read the article.

Native leader Leonard Peltier, a participant in the Wounded Knee uprising in 1973, who has already done over 30 years in prison after being framed up in the death of FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Reservation, was refused permission to have accessible a medical device to help control his life-threatening diabetes.

Professor Sami Al-Arian, who already has done three years for collecting funds for Palestinian charities, now has two new charges for contempt of a grand jury. Much like the Brooklyn grand jury aimed at Puerto Rican independence activists, this one is trying to squeeze Al-Arian and force him to turn on his friends.

Even the good news illustrates racism and repression.

In Louisiana, Albert Woodfox of the Angola Three had his frame-up conviction reversed. That was after this African-American man had done 30-plus years in solitary confinement! He still may be retried. But it took a broad campaign that mobilized to support him and a visit to the prison from Rep. John Conyers to get this far.

Charges were finally dropped against Michael Tarif Warren and Evelyn Warren. Cops had beaten and arrested them last year after the two witnessed the cops abusing a young man in Brooklyn. It had taken a crowd surrounding the precinct to get these two popular African-American attorneys out of jail the night of their arrest.

Anti-war activist Ed Lewinson, too, got out of federal prison after serving 90 days for protesting at the “School of the Americas,” where the U.S. trains killers to keep Latin America out of the hands of its people. Lewinson, who is 78 years old and blind, was kept in solitary confinement most of those days.

All that and the ongoing struggle to free Mumia Abu-Jamal are in this week’s Workers World. Plus there’s still the case of the Cuban Five and many other political prisoners in the U.S.

Meanwhile, U.S. politicians still deliver pious sermons to the leaders of Zimbabwe and Cuba regarding human rights and U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.) just visited China to demand they “release jailed dissidents” before the Olympics.

The two need their noses rubbed in the U.S. legal system’s destruction of human rights.