Rules of the Game: Detention, Deportation, Disappearance

by Asim Quereshi

Overview

In the aftermath of the suicide bombings on London's transport infrastructure in July 2005, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair said that "the rules of the game have changed/" He referred to how his government planned to respond to the attacks, but few people at the time anticipated that counter-terrorism would become synonymous with circumventing time-honoured concepts such as the rule of law. It is associated now with words such as profiling, incommunicado detention, rendition and torture. Rules of the Game investigates global counter terrorism through the perspective of those affected by such measures. Asim Qureshi's indefatigable research took him to East Africa, Pakistan, Sudan, the USA, Bosnia and Canada to record the testimonies of the victims of these detention policies. He analyses the effects of global counter-terrorism not as individual policies or pieces of legislation, but rather as parts of a larger phenomenon that has uniformly changed the way governments view justice and eroded fundamental norms in pursuit of often phantom terrorists. Among the issues he discusses are profiling of Muslims by security services and concurrent mass arrests; the use of detention without charge, control orders and incommunicado detention; rendition; domestic detention policies in North America; and how the establishment of Guantanamo Bay has affected global perceptions of justice and imprisonment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781850659693
Publisher:	Hurst
Publication date:	11/22/2009
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Asim Qureshi was trained in law and is currently the Senior Researcher for Cageprisoners. With his team of researchers,he has written and published many reports exposing the use of unlawful detention, rendition, and torture in the "war on terror."

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Muslim

2. Guilty

3. Rule of Law

4. Foreign Exchange

5. Guantanamo Bay

6. Darkness

7.Torture and Abuse

8. Security

Notes

Bibliography

Detainees

Index

What People are Saying About This

Moazzam Begg

What Asim Qureshi has most aptly detailed in these pages is the lengths to which the rules of a very dangerous game have spanned continents and permanently changed societies, particularly ones that once boasted—as part of their heritage—that no man would be wronged in their land.

— Moazzam Begg, former Guantanamo detainee, author of Enemy Combatant, and director of the NGO Cageprisoners

Victoria Brittain

Asim Qureshi's meticulous research gives the widest picture yet of the impact of 9/11 on the destruction of fundamental human rights and legal norms by the most powerful of Western politicians. His story is a horrifying one, but his sober tone makes it possible to follow him and the tormented Muslim men he has spoken to into an area of lawlessness, lies, torture, and degradation that no one who has not lived it can imagine. The importance of this scholarly book and the years of recording and reporting that have gone into it tell a story of what has happened to our civilization. No one can afford not to know these things.

— Victoria Brittain, journalist, writer, and former associate editor of the Guardian

Mahvish Rukhsana Khan

The testimonies presented by Asim Qureshi are individually horrific, and when laid out together in this way, they paint a truly terrifying global picture.

— Mahvish Rukhsana Khan, attorney for Guantanamo detainees and author of My Guantanamo Diary

Clive Stafford Smith

An important book on a subject that is crucial to the rather frightening era we are living in. Asim Qureshi writes from a knowledge as deep as anyone in the field. A must read.

— Clive Stafford Smith, lawyer for Guantanamo detainees and director of Reprieve

Gitanjali Gutierrez

Rules of the Game highlights aspects of our modern historical narrative that the 'war on terror' discussions have long neglected. Asim Qureshi offers an insightful overview of the global impact of international human rights violations against the Muslim diaspora. More important, he presents first-person portraits of the impact of these violations not only by the Muslim men who survived these practices but also by the women whose husbands disappeared, the children whose fathers were wrongfully detained, and the parents whose sons have been abused. Qureshi reminds us that international human rights are not simply abstract principles but concrete safeguards designed to protect individuals and communities from the abuse of executive power.

— Gitanjali Gutierrez, US attorney for Guantanamo detainees, the Center for Constitutional Rights

Geoffrey Bindman

Asim Qureshi documents the tragic and shameful history of a cruel and counter-productive policy that has particularly impacted many Muslims subjected to torture and imprisonment in intolerable conditions without legal safeguards. The great importance of this well-researched book is its emphasis on the experience and suffering of the victims whose voices are eloquently transcribed.

— Geoffrey Bindman, chair of the British Institute of Human Rights

Ruth Blakeley

This book makes a very important contribution to the small but growing literature on the human rights implications of the US-led "War on Terror." Drawing on hours and hours of accounts from victims and families, it is relevant to scholars of international relations, international law, and human rights. It also appeals to human rights and civil liberties organizations, Muslim communities, political parties, and the general public, whose skepticism British and U.S. activities is growing.

— Ruth Blakeley, University of Kent

Editorial Reviews

"In a panic-stricken response to the attack on the twin towers in New York on 9/11 the US government sought to allay the anger of its citizens and to exact revenge by launching a 'war on terror'. In doing so it abandoned its adherence to principles of justice developed over two hundred years. Asim Qureshi documents the tragic and shameful history of this cruel and counter-productive policy which has particularly impacted on many Muslims who have been subjected to torture and imprisonment in intolerable conditions without legal safeguards. The great importance of this well researched book is its emphasis on the experience and suffering of the victims whose voices are eloquently transcribed." —Sir Geoffrey Bindman, QC, chair of the British Institute of Human Right

"Asim Qureshi's meticulous research has produced a book which gives the widest picture yet of the impact of 9/11 on the destruction of fundamental human rights and legal norms by the most powerful of Western politicians. His story is a horrifying one, but his sober tone makes it possible to follow him and the tormented Muslim men he has spoken to, from Bosnia to Pakistan, from Egypt to Syria, and even further afield, into an area of lawlessness, lies, torture, and degradation that no one who has not lived it can imagine. The importance of this scholarly book and the years of recording and reporting that have gone into it, is that it tells a story of what has happened to our civilization. No one can afford not to know these things."—Victoria Brittain, journalist, writer, and former associate editor of the Guardian

From the Publisher