Peverted US release Pictures of Saddam Hussein Exposed in his Pants

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Re: Peverted US release Pictures of Saddam Hussein Exposed in his Pants

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Hell, people do more than that voluntarily, but then there's also the paparazzi phenomenon. As far as I know there is no UN ruling declaring paparazzi actions a violation of standard human rights.
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Saddam did not give consent. Violation of consent to this degree of an incarcerated person is a line you can't cross. Once that line is crossed, all incarerated people can be a target, it sets a precedence. It is one thing to take a pic of a celeb flauting themselves on a beach in France or even in a backyard sunbathing, since they are in public, consent is infered. Here he has no option and his private space (ie his home) was violated. Yes, there are laws against that even for the paparazzi. It is not like he can hide or move, is it?

As far as paparazzi (if indeed that really is the case, very doubtful, but willing to go there) having this kind of access to a prisoner, that is also a cause for concern.

But I stand on consent, no one gave it and he was in an area off limits to anyone with a camera. The slippery slope is now, if this can happen and be published on the front page what is to ensure that pictures of other prisoners in states of undress are not published anywhere once this is made light of. Would you like it to happen to you if you were ever in jail and basically powerless and someone happened to print on the front page in two countries (and now, the internet) you in a private moment in your underwear? How about your mother or daughter (as an example only)?

I brought up before this in terms of some men prosecuted for taking pics of women in states of undress in changing rooms, it is the same thing. If a guy who did this in a changing room was a paparazzi, does this mean it is allowable? No.

It is not the fact that he is in his underwear, personally, that doesn't bother me. I've been married twice and have kids in their teens, I've seen people in their underwear before, believe me. It is the clear violation of a person's right to privacy and the gall of the man who owns that paper to believe this is the right thing to do just because Saddam is a person most people view with contempt and therefore he deserves this humiliation. After all who will protest?

Who has the right to make the judgement that someone deserves that kind of treatment? You can't pull someone's rights away on a whim or because you don't agree with their politics or way of life.

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Re: Peverted US release Pictures of Saddam Hussein Exposed in his Pants

OK, we have two points here: (1) Saddam's individual privacy and (2) the slippery slope.

On Saddam's consent, it is quite simple: yes, this was a violation of his privacy and a technical violation of law. I'm not sure that is disputed where it matters. The US has admitted as much, they are initiating an investigation which will likely result in administrative punishment at the least for the person responsible. This was an unofficial violation, though. It is not policy nor precedent. The government's response makes clear that this is not tolerated now, nor will it be in the future. That covers the government side. On the civilian side, those who published the photos, Saddams lawyers have said that they will pursue this matter in court. As a civil case it has a decent chance of resulting in a fine for those who acquired and initially published the photos. After those first appearances it became a legitimate news story and the pictures became fair use material. Summary: The government does not tolerate this, and the initial publishers may be held liable in court. Culpability acknowledged. Moral point defended.

On the issue of this happening to others.. as above, the government response indicates they do not approve of this action and they will not tolerate it in the future. Their pursuit of those responsible within the detention operations will provide reasonable deterrance to future acts. Now, would anyone watch this and think that they could make a quick buck or get their easy 15 minutes by releasing photos of a prisoner they have access to? Not likely. Saddam is a high-profile figure. There aren't many others in the system that would create such a curiosity as to make the front page. Also, if only talking about military detention centers, you have the example of Abu Ghraib demonstrating that whoever does this does not become a well liked person. But there is always Martha Stewart and numerous mob bosses before in the domestic system to prove that curiosity is often unavoidable despite the best countermeasures and for the most part harmless.

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Re: Peverted US release Pictures of Saddam Hussein Exposed in his Pants

OG, on the African dictator question:
Not one still around, but we're only now getting over what he did: Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. But, oops, bad example.. the US really didn't play nicely with that dictator. The French did for a while, though. Oh, and he was technically the dictator of Portugal.. but they had colonies then.

Seriously, though, Apartheid as a government was equal to Saddam in too many ways. And for too long the US did play nice with them.

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