Emanuel’s Shame: Chicago’s Secret Prison is a ‘Constitution-Free Zone’

21st Century Wire says…
This is truly one of the worst pieces of news in living memory, but to anyone who has been paying attention – it should not come as a big shock (which in itself is a very sad thing). This is only one single aspect of the new American Stasi…
This week, thanks to The Guardian newspaper in Great Britain, the world discovered a building known simply as ‘Homan Square’ – an off-the-books urban prison where unspeakable things happen on a routine basis. Located just off of West Fillmore Avenue, it’s been described as Chicago’s answer to Abu Graib, where police employ ‘Gestapo tactics’, holding detainees in secrecy – and without access to lawyers or due process. Detainees are regularly subject to brutal treatment, including shackling, physical and mental abuse that has included, among other things, attacks to their face and genitals.
This is happening in President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder’s home town of Chicago, and you’d expect they would be rushing to correct this gross injustice and fatal breach in public confidence. So far, it’s been pretty slow to the punch, perhaps because of who is meant to be in charge over there in the windy city…
In 2010, Rahm Emanuel (photo, left) resigned from his post as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff and ran for Mayor of Chicago in 2011. He won the election and became mayor. Chicago’s crime and murder rates increased under Emanuel, and it’s hard to believe that the Mayor would not have known about such a large ‘black site’ under his nose. Did he turn a blind eye because he thought that maintaining this illegal facility in the heart of the Midwest’s largest city would show that he’s ‘tough on crime’?

This post was published at 21st Century Wire on FEBRUARY 28, 2015.