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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| Gul Rahman | |
|---|---|
 Photo of Gul Rahman, released by his family | |
| Arrested | October 2002 Pakistan |
| Died | 20 November 2002 the Salt Pit |
| Citizenship | Afghanistan |
| Detained at | Salt Pit |
| Charge | No charge |
| Status | Death by torture in a secret CIA facility |
| Occupation | Detainee of DOD |
Gul Rahman (Pashto: ګل رحمان; died November 20, 2002) was an Afghan man, suspected by the United States of being a militant, who was a victim of torture. He died in a secret CIA prison, or black site, located in northern Kabul, Afghanistan, known as the Salt Pit.[1][2] He had been captured October 29, 2002.[3][4]
His name was kept secret by the United States for more than seven years, although his death was announced. In 2010 the Associated Press reported that before his death he was left half-stripped and chained against a concrete wall on a night when the temperature was close to freezing.[3] The United States government did not notify his family (wife and four daughters) of his death, according to the report.[3]
Gul Rahman was captured and arrested on October 29, 2002, during a joint operation by U.S. agents and Pakistani security forces against Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin.[5] He was reportedly arrested with the physician Ghairat Baheer, the son-in-law of the warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who led the insurgent faction Hezb-e-Islami.[5] Rahman had traveled from Peshawar to Islamabad, Pakistan, for a medical checkup when he was arrested at the home of Ghairat Baheer, and subsequently flown by the CIA to Afghanistan.[5]
U.S. officials claim Rahman was "violently uncooperative" while in custody at the Salt Pit, the CIA code name for an abandoned brick factory that had been turned into a CIA black site or covert interrogation center,[5] including threatening to kill his guards – who responded by beating him.[5] Rahman was also subjected to "48 hours of sleep deprivation, auditory overload, total darkness, isolation, a cold shower and rough treatment". Gul Rahman reportedly died on November 20, 2002, after being stripped naked from the waist down and shackled to a cold cement wall in the Salt Pit, where temperatures were approximately 36 °F (2 °C).[4]
This technique of shackling is known as "short-chaining." The detainee is shackled "in a short chain position, which prevents prisoners from standing upright." A CIA pathologist reported that Rahman likely froze to death.[6]
His death prompted an internal CIA review and the development of improved guidance.[5] No one was ever charged in his death.
According to Gul's brother, Habib Rahman, Gul Rahman was involved in a 1994 rescue of Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Karzai had been imprisoned by the government forces, and Rahman was working for Hekmatyar, whose forces fired rockets at the building while Rahman entered and freed Karzai. Rahman took him to a safe house in Kabul.[2]
On December 9, 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture was published.[1] According to that report he had been subjected to total darkness, sensory overload, sleep deprivation, cold shower, rough treatment, short shackling, and finally froze to death. The report said he was the only captive known to have died in CIA custody.[1]
On October 13, 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit [7] on behalf of Rahman's estate and two other former detainees against two psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, who they maintain were responsible for designing the protocols that resulted in Rahman's death and the torture of the other two plaintiffs.[8] The ACLU case is the first lawsuit brought against significant individuals identified in the Senate report since it was published.[9] On July 28, 2017, U.S. district judge Justin Lowe Quackenbush denied both parties' motions for summary judgment, noted that the defendants are indemnified by the United States government, and encouraged the attorneys to reach a settlement before trial.[10]
Cited by the Senate report as the only detainee who died from the CIA's interrogation, Rahman was subjected to "'48 hours of sleep deprivation, auditory overload, total darkness, isolation, a cold shower, and rough treatment'" during his time at the Cobalt detention site. One night in November 2002, he was "shackled to the wall of his cell," resting on the bare concrete floor. Wearing only a sweatshirt and naked from the waist down, he was found dead—likely of hypothermia—the next day. Other factors in his death included "dehydration, lack of food, and immobility due to 'short chaining.'"
Lawsuit Against Psychologists Behind CIA Torture Program
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Gul Rahman (Pashto: ګل رحمان; died November 20, 2002) was an Afghan man, suspected by the United States of being a militant, who was a victim of torture. He died in a secret CIA prison, or black site, located in northern Kabul, Afghanistan, known as the Salt Pit. He had been captured October 29, 2002. His name was kept secret by the United States for more than seven years, although his death was announced. In 2010 the Associated Press reported that before his death he was left half-stripped and chained against a concrete wall on a night when the temperature was close to freezing. The United States government did not notify his family (wife and four daughters) of his death, according to the report.
Professor Gul Rahman Qazi is a Pashtun Afghan scholar, peace activist and politician. On 6 October 2010, he became the Head of the Public Law Department at Kabul University and in 2011, became the Head of the Supervisory Commission Legal Section on the Implementation of the Constitution.
Ghairat Baheer is a citizen of Afghanistan who served as a Senator in the House of Elders of Afghanistan. He is also the Chairman of the Political Committee of Hezbi Islami in Afghanistan. Ghairat Baheer was held by American forces in extrajudicial detention for over six years. According to BBC News, Pakistani officials took him into custody during a pre-dawn raid on his home in Islamabad on October 30, 2002. The BBC said no reason was offered for his apprehension, and that there were rumors US security officials participated in the raid. After his release in May 2008, Baheer asserted he had spent six months in the salt pit, one of the Central Intelligence Agency's network of clandestine interrogation centers. He spent the rest of his detention in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, Baheer is a medical doctor, a son-in-law of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin previously a militant group, and he was captured with Gul Rahman, the only captive the CIA has acknowledged died in captivity. In 2010, Baheer was a member of the Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin peace delegation to peace talks. In an interview with the German news agency DPA Bahir said he spent most of his six years in captivity in chains, bombarded with disorienting music so loud his guards wore hearing protection. He said they were fed an inadequate quantity of food, and he lost 40 kilograms, and he still hadn't fully recovered his strength. In 2012 he served as the HiG's main negotiator with the United States. David Loyn, of the BBC News, quoting sources close to new President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, reported that Ghairat Baheer had been offered a position in his new cabinet. Baheer, former Taliban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, and former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salem Zaeef, were offered the Ministries of Minister of Rural Affairs, Minister of Border Affairs and Minister of Religious Affairs. On June 14, 2018, Baheer addressed 180 members of the Hezbi Islami Party, who had just been released from prison, following the peace negotiations he had helped lead. He urged the men, on behalf of the party, to be peaceful, law-abiding citizens. Ghairat Baheer was sworn in as a Senator and a member of the House of Elders on September 16, 2018. He was selected for the senate as part of the one third members that the President is entitled to appoint. He is also currently the Chairman of the Political Committee of Hezbi Islami in Afghanistan.
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known as ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in international cinema. He is a recipient of seven National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, and eighteen Filmfare Awards South. In 2010, the Government of India conferred him with the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian award. With his in-house studio Panchathan Record Inn, Rahman's film-scoring career began during the early 1990s with the Tamil film Roja. Following that, he went on to score several songs for Tamil language films, including Mani Ratnam's politically charged Bombay, the urban Kaadhalan, Thiruda Thiruda, and S. Shankar's debut film Gentleman. Rahman's score for his first Hollywood film, the comedy Couples Retreat (2009), won the BMI Award for Best Score. His music for Slumdog Millionaire (2008) earned him Best Original Score and Best Original Song (for Jai Ho) at the 81st Academy Awards. He was also awarded Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2010 Grammy Awards. He is nicknamed "Isai Puyal" (transl. Musical Storm) and "Mozart of Madras". Rahman has also become a humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for a number of causes and charities. In 2006, he was honoured by Stanford University for his contributions to global music. In 2008, he received Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Madras. In 2009, he was included on the Time list of the world's 100 most influential people. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. He has also received honorary doctorate from Aligarh Muslim University. In 2017, he made his debut as a director and writer for the film Le Musk. In 2024, Rahman was named Honorary President of Trinity Laban.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Joe Louis.
