People kill people. Even really important people.

Or, so I thought. These people shouldn't be important anymore.

Torture might be the the scariest topic I will blog about. Even the word "torture" just sounds like it hurts. Torture isn't just a word, though. It's an action and it's happening closer to home than you think.

How close? Former President of the United States George W. Bush-close.

According to Human Rights Watch, the former president made televised statements ordering the torture and punishment of two CIA detainees Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

The punishment was a technique called waterboarding. To execute this, the victim's head is immobilized and inclined backwards. Water is then poured over the victim's face in order for the person to experience feelings of drowning.

Shudders are running down my spine.

Want to hear some irony? The JUSTICE DEPARTMENT of the United States authorized the TORTURE of these CIA detainees, saying that "waterboarding and other abusive interrogation methods were not illegal." I just used "justice" and "torture" in the same sentence. I've never done that before and I hope to never do it again (unless I'm speaking against torture in a fight for justice).

The former president's statements are documented on video tape along with the actual interrogation itself, but they're destroyed. Jose A. Rodriguez, former head of the CIA's clandestine service back in 2005, ordered for them to be destroyed and takes full responsibility for his actions.

John Durham, US attorney, is currently in charge of investigating the improper interrogation of detainees. He know's what's up, but he's not pressing any charges because the tapes are destroyed.

I almost wish he thought of a better excuse because, for the caliber of this subject, this one's weak, Durham. It ain't gonna cut it.

Why are they so confident in their decisions to allow the torture of people? They think they are right in every way and should not have to suffer any consequences because of their behavior. ARE THERE SOULS IN THEIR BODIES? They're really going to let laws made by some dude tell them it's okay to torture and kill someone?

"To say that Justice Department lawyers gave their okay to clearly illegal methods of torture and ill-treatment is a lame excuse," Mariner said. "It simply shows that the lawyers themselves were derelict in their duty to uphold the law."

Agreed, Mariner.

Can you, the reader of my blog, feel my pulse speeding up with every word I type?!

"It is beyond shocking that a former US president can publicly claim responsibility for torture and the next day the US government can say it will not pursue charges for destroying evidence of that torture," said Joanne Mariner, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program director at Human Rights Watch. "It sends the ugly message that there are no legal consequences in the United States for committing the most heinous of international crimes."

I am beyond shocked. This is happening at the hands of someone who used to run the country that I live in. Would he have gone to those great lengths to punish someone in our country?

I'll ask this question again: are we just plain lucky to be born in the USA?

To read more on the story, visit humanrightswatch.org.

People with disabilities don't belong in the USA...

... Apparently.

Confused? So am I.

In July, "Deportation by Default", a 98-page report posted on the Human Rights Watch website, was written saying that "immigrants with mental disabilities are often unjustifiably detained for years on end, sometimes with no legal limits." Basically, since they weren't able to think for themselves, they were just sent back out of the United States or held in indefinite detention as a result of an unfair trial.

www.hrw.org

The report presents the methods in which immigrants are screened and put to trial in the courtroom. It continues with explaining the violation of human justification and then offers suggestions on how to handle it in a morally just way (e.g. making sure they know the immigrant has a mental disability before proceeding with the trail).

Often, immigrants are denied access to a lawyer and there is an absence of legal standards in immigration court. From what the report entails, there's not a lot to look forward to if you're an immigrant found inside of immigration court.

People with disabilities were interviewed for this report. Some didn't know their own names, didn't know how to tell time, were delusional and had no idea what being deported from the United States meant.

Ever got in trouble and had no idea why? I know we've all been there. It's an awful feeling and we sometimes spend way too much time wondering what we did. We can do that. We, meaning those without mental disabilities, are able to wonder why. We're able to somewhat control what goes through our minds. For example, we learn things. We hear things by listening to people and comprehending what they say. We're able to apply it to life, so we can talk about it later. We have the mental capacity to do that.

For those who can't, or aren't able to understand as quickly as we can, should we just leave them behind? Simply because they can't think for themselves? Because they can't help themselves, are we not going to even try and help them? And what about the people with mental disabilities that are already in the US? That were fortunate enough to be born here? Were they just lucky?

Many more human rights issues occur abroad. Other countries have a different way of governing their people, laying down their laws, and running a country.

There's an entire world besides the United States out there, but sometimes, we just seem to treat them like they're an entirely different species from our own. But they're not. We're all humans. We're born with the same rights, we just happen to be born in different places.

What would your life be like if you were born somewhere other than the United States?