Human Rights Violations in Belgium -- Don't Be So Surprised

In the last week we've seen a lot of comments like these:

Some have been sarcastic:

""I'm so glad these "first world," "civilized" countries do not condone torture.

" Oh Lord. Let's hear it for Democracy and Western Civilization! Good thing we're off fighting those barbarians in the MidEast and Asia."



Others have seemed genuinely shocked:

"BELGIUM? I thought their misdeeds were limited to serving fried potatoes with everything."

And apparently, Jon Stewart can't get over the idea that there's more going on in Belgium than waffle eating:

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(I guess this blog almost constitutes art imitating life -- and while Stewart may not be a "ridiculous asshole", he could have certainly gone a little deeper into explaining why Belgians are rising up against neoliberal policies than just framing them as a mirror image reversal of the Tea Party. But I digress...)



Even Belgians are surprised: "Shocking. Any suggested action / target person for people in Belgium?"


Unfortunately, we shouldn't be shocked.


This is not the first time disregard for human rights by Belgium has been exposed.


In 2003, the UN Committee Against  Torture investigated police abuse of detainees in Belgium:

Check out the Global Detention Project's profile on immigration detention in Belgium.


Here's a report from a 2003 UN Committee Against Torture investigation into abuse of prisoners in Belgium.

Here's a humorous short film from Amnesty International's branch in Belgium.  It's not clear if the video is meant to allude to torture in Belgium specifically, but given the events of the last two weeks, it's pretty appropriate.