The debate about the release of the (only) man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, is gathering pace this morning. The Scottish Parliament has been recalled and there has been a serious appeal for a public inquiry into the decision to release the terminally-ill prisoner. All this will now take its course and, hopefully – this being a democracy, of course – we will find out what were the criteria for making the legal judgement to release him on compassionate grounds. In other words, we should discover if any deals were done (all denied) or any pressure applied.
However, to pick up on the theme of my last post and a good deal of Twitter traffic in the UK, there is a certain degree of what might be called ‘incredulity’ at the American political response (exploitation?) of this matter. Following the FBI Director’s bizarre letter to the Scottish Justice Minister, one correspondent wrote:
I don’t think I really get past the feeling of outrage that the director of the FBI presumes to talk about justice … I assume that Mueller well knows that Leonard Peltier, just denied parole after 33 years inside, was framed by the FBI … Also just in the news: a first apology for the My Lai massacre from the one man convicted for it – pardoned after 4.5 months! … What justice or compassion did the US show when the Vincennes shot down that Iranian airliner? … why do we still allow the US to define not only who are terrorists but also what is justice?
Not everyone will want to agree with this explosion of outrage, but the US needs to grasp that it isn’t always seen as the ‘Land of the Free’ outside of the USA itself. Continuing questions about Afghanistan, Iraq, the ‘War on Terror’, Guantanamo and the US practice of denying justice to ‘inconvenient’ people (only now giving details to the Red Cross of men held in secret captivity in Iraq and Afghanistan) cause many of us to listen with a certain degree of cynicism to proclamations from Washington. And that is not a healthy state of affairs.
Two reports in this morning’s media deserve comment:
1. The BBC website quotes ABC’s Radio Corrspondent in the UK, Tom Rivers, saying:
…it was “highly unusual” for the director of the FBI to talk about political issues … Mueller was an assistant Attorney General in the early 90s, looking at specifically the Lockerbie case, so it was very close and personal from his point of view … And that is being felt across the board in America. You’ve got American websites saying unless Britain does something there’s talk of a boycott of British and Scottish goods, and also urging people not to come to Britain on tourist trips.”
Now, that really is worrying. Since when was the Director of the FBI supposed to be motivated by ‘personal’ stuff? Isn’t ‘justice’ supposed to be impartial and exercised on the basis of more than emotion? (‘Compassion’ is actually more than ‘mere emotion’, is it not?) This may work in Hollywood, but it is disturbing in the context of politics or law. A boycott will expose more than the Americans might expect.
2. James Rubin, a policy adviser to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton said on the BBC this morning:
I think the cause of those who have seen criminal courts and the criminal process as a way to deal with terrorism has been greatly set back. There have been many who have emphasised how the court system and international law is the best tool to deal with the threat of international terrorism – often in criticising the US for its approach – I think that cause has been greatly set back.
Well, he is entitled to his opinion, but there is a worrying assumption here that is not shared by a huge number of people on this side of the Atlantic. Has not one of the problems in the last fifty years been that the US has tried to enforce on some countries of the world (by undemocratic and unlawful means?) a model of democracy that only creates cynicism on those being ‘helped’? Is Rubin really suggesting that we can encourage a world to take seriously the fundamental importance of the rule of law by threatening to abandon it when ‘convenient’ to the powerful?
These reactions need to be further unpacked – and, no doubt, they will be as the day goes on and the weeks roll by. But, I think I will just continue to think it through and see what happens in Scotland today as MSPs convene to debate the matter.
Nick Baines's Blog 
August 24, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Am I to believe that the decision to release him was made by ‘one’ man? Please give me a break.
August 24, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I am American. I absolutely do not support the death penalty, but many Americans do (probably about 50% of Americans endorse this cruel practice). I imagine that many people in the USA want this terrorist dead. I would not be surprised if he isn’t targeted for assassination or murder by the CIA. The USA even executes offenders who –sometimes– aren’t even directly involved in taking a life (but may be part of a murder conspiracy in a tangential way). Until recently, the USA executed juveniles and mentally retarded offenders. Our Supreme Court stopped this practice in the last five years. I don’t advocate these practices, but I am trying to give you an idea of the mentality in the USA towards a man who murdered over 200 people. Because of the high number of victims in this terrorism case and the obvious lack of compassion this murderer showed his innocent victims, I am troubled by this man’s release (and his warm reception in his home country). I knew one of his victims. I would not want him executed, but I do not like him being set free. I am certain that terminally ill prisoners in the UK receive humane treatment. I would have been happier if this man had remained in prison — this man who killed my friend. That said, I am American and not a UK citizen. This was not my decision to make. But as a friend of a victim, I am entitled to voice my feelings and my opinion. Ultimately, the UK system of justice is none of my business. Actually, I have admiration for the UK’s abolition of the death penalty and the UK’s gun laws. And the UK (unlike the USA) isn’t know to engage in waterboarding. mock executions, and other forms of illegal and coercive torture like the USA has in the last few years. So I don’t know if any American has the moral credibility to criticize the administration of justice in the UK or anywhere — our own system is flawed, callous, unfair, unjust, and inhumane. Eight years of George Bush really brought the USA down to the level of thuggish and criminal behavior. I view George W. Bush as an international terrorist and criminal, too. I don’t understand Mr. Bush as being all that different from Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, except Mr. Bush has many more victims. I was born in 1964. In my lifetime, American prisoners have been hung, asphyxiated with gas, burned to death with electricity, and poisoned to death with injected chemicals (the same chemicals that our laws prohibit veterinarians from using for humane euthanasia of sick domestic animals). When I was a child, even non-murderers such as rapists were executed. In my home state of Tennessee, the last man executed in the 1960s was a black man executed for raping a white woman (before executions resumed in 2000). The state of Tennessee burned a child murderer to death with 2,000+ volts of electricity in 2007:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hRJEyRNidncDVFWL0kGddJAYXlSg
If the USA does this to a man who killed four children, you can only imagine what they would like to do to a terrorist who killed over 200 people in a plane bombing.
And I wouldn’t be making any comments about this matter if I did not personally know one of the people this terrorist murdered. I think about my friend’s life being cut short by this man and I have such a difficult time seeing my friend’s murderer being released and receiving a festive welcome in Libya. I am not happy that a criminal like George Bush hasn’t been brought to justice and held accountable for his crimes. I don’t think a boycott of the UK is appropriate. But there is a very vindictive streak among some in the USA. We actually have people making death threats to our elected officials because some in our government want to provide health care coverage to all Americans (50 million are uninsured). Can you imagine wanting to harm someone who wants to provide universal health care? President Obama is called “a Nazi” because he supports universal health care in the USA. Today I saw a news story about an American pastor who regularly prays for the president’s death. This is insane and repulsive to me, but you can see video footage of these things happening in the media. So you can bet that some of these angry right-wingers will want a boycott of the UK. They will be rude or possibly violent to UK citizens they encounter in the USA. They are rude and make threats of violence against Americans they disagree with politically, so intolerance and violence against people from the UK would not shock me. And the right-wing media (via hate radio and FOX News) will only exacerbate this problem. There is an element of invincible ignorance in some in the USA. Some of these folks don’t even believe our president was born in from the USA (that there was some bizarre conspiracy going back to 1961). Most Americans don’t understand government processes in the UK and how Scotland has some devolved powers. They will be blaming everyone from the UK. At some point, you will probably see news footage of some Americans burning a UK flag and public protests. To be candid, if you are from the UK, for your own safety please don’t visit the USA unless you have to, at least for a while. If you do, it is probably best to avoid the southern states. Of course you are welcome and there are good and decent people in the USA, but it only takes one angry nut case to harm you. Although I don’t approve of my friend’s murderer being released, I certainly don’t blame everyone in the UK. I don’t support the death penalty. And I am appalled by the violent mob mentality that exists in the USA right now. The USA isn’t safe for Americans at times.
August 25, 2009 at 9:24 am
Nick,
Thanks for your considered response to this issue. Some of us (i.e. me!)too easily leap to attack America for its bullish attitude, and double-standards when it comes to justice, without really giving it a considered response.
You seem to manage to weight up the evidence as we can see it, and whilst your criticism of some US policies is not veiled, it is fairly put.
Usually I would enjoy seeing an ‘independent’ Scotland in a bit of a pickle, as they do with England, but not this time. Long may strong compassion reign.
August 25, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Nick,
I continue to see this as you do an issue of compassion. I also do not agree with the death penalty, as I regard it as legalized murder. So what options were open once it became obvious that the man was dying of a terminal illness? Keeping him in prison would be pure vengeance, which Christ specifically reserves for himself on the day of judgment.
The integrity of a lot of people is becoming suspect due to the ongoing speculation regarding this case – I prefer to believe that the decision was taken in good faith, in compassion for his suffering and in accordance with the law of Scotland.
If it were found that some form of coercion had been applied, for or against release, It would only reinforce my suspicion of Politicians – who have not really demonstrated the level of integrity required from one holding public office over the past few years.
I am not sure that ethical behavior can now be expected from anyone elected on a Party Political ticket – evidence for that being the treatment of Frank Field by Tony Blair.
Perhaps the days of Party Politics in their current form are numbered – I sincerely hope so.
August 25, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I am a Scot and a Christian. I am proud of the decision made to release Mr al Megrahi on compassionate grounds – a very courageous act by the Justice Secretary who applied our laws meticulously. My understanding is that the release happened as it “ticked all the boxes” under our legal system – not to release him would have been unusual, and also caused comment and outcry.
What has surprised me has been the relative lack of response by the USA administration – very mild reaction in the circumstances from the President and Secretary of State on the day of the release. This makes me suspect that they understood the legal processes and that it would have been very difficult legally for the Justice Secretary to act otherwise. (Or cynically, Mr al-Megrahi’s release serves their purpose).
The response by the relatives in the USA is understandable, and they have my utmost sympathy. But it should not be forgotten that the atrocity happened in Scotland and we too lost people – and it was our services who had to deal with the aftermath for many, many months. Many of us in the south of Scotland have relatives who were directly involved in Lockerbie and its aftermath who also have to deal to this day with emotional and psychological effects. Yet we are willing to release a man who has a few months left of life as our laws allow.
Many people (including some who disagree with the decision)in Scotland are shocked by the response of some in the USA to this, especially as we are told that the USA is a Christian country. This is not how we understand Christianity in Scotland, and even though the Justice Secretary is not Christian, his values are much closer to the values of many in Scotland than the values from the USA demonstrated on TV (especially the outrageous contribution by John Bolton on Newsnight last night).
I thank God for the courage of the Justice Secretary and the integrity he showed in Parliament yesterday. At least I feel there is someone who tries to do the right thing and not to be swayed by the hypocrisy of “Realpolitik”. It is not just that we are two countries separated by a language, our values and sense of who we are as humans separate us too. Perhaps this incident may make our politicians act more humanely and ethically in the future – or is this wishful thinking?
August 26, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I’m an American, too, and Mark F definately DOES NOT speak for me. The last time I saw a British flag burned here was over some event in the north of Ireland.
You are as safe visiting the USA as you would be visiting any country in the European Union.
Brooklyn, NY
August 26, 2009 at 6:29 pm
That’s a relief!