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News about torture of Afghan prisoners always seemed to sink shortly after surfacing, particularly in Western media, but shadows of abuse and torture are starting to become too large to overlook. Many more accounts of torture and abuse at the US military’s Baghram prison in Afghanistan have emerged, now with much documented proof. Testimonies have been collected from first hand witnesses who describe human rights violations, similar to those exercised in Guantanamo Bay.

Human rights violations in the US military’s open air prison, Baghram, are uncountable and include treatment ranging from sleep deprivation, freezing temperatures and physical abuse with weapons. The only way the US and Canadian military members could have possibly justified any of this abuse and torture was to mentally dehumanize Afghan prisoners. Dehumanization would help them rationalize the abuse they put them through, making them less guilty conscious.

After many years of torture tales going untold, documented evidence has surfaced in the public eye, and the public awaits accountability and appropriate punishment for the wrongdoers. We can be hopeful that demanding accountability will stop further acts of abuse and force abusers to think twice before putting human beings through treatment worse than anyone would even imagine putting animals through.

Both the US and Canadian militaries and governments should, hopefully, face trials in which are due in any democratic society. Just because the majority view is the prevalent one, it is not at all necessary for it to be the correct view. All individual citizens of the state must realize the importance of upholding accountability in a democratic state; otherwise the true essence of democracy will soon begin to crumble.

A full public inquiry into detainee abuse has been called due to the pressure being built on the Harper government. The heart of democracy lies in dissent in which all viewpoints are vocalized and given the appropriate and due consideration. If we truly love our land, our patriotism should be evident through constructive criticism of the state as opposed to thoughtless conformity.

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