Criminalise War

This is indeed the 'one of a kind' exhibition and conference that I've ever attended before.
The word 'war' carried the meanings of death, suffering, torture, loss ....

Held in PWTC, the reason why I would want to attend this conference on the first place is to listen to Tun Mahathir's keynote during the launching ceremony. Not more than that. Before the keynote was addressed, there was a 'play' staged by Iraqi kids whose parents have sought refuge in Malaysia. The 'play' was on - one sunny day they were playing with their friends when suddenly their homes were ambushed ...all of them except one small boy escaped uninjured.

(At this moment, dah tak tertahan air mata... I knew that the person who sat beside me was also crying...). It was a horrifying experience... tak boleh nak dibayangkan if this happen to us, our family.. especially our own kids...

Tun's speech was very inspiring.... I wonder who did the speech for him or maybe he did on his own.. Before we proceeded to lunch, we entered the exhibition hall that showcased the methods used to torture the prisoners in the famous Guantanamo and Abu Gharib detain prisons.

These are some pictures of the torture methods ....



Pics taken from http://mmail.com.my/content/17393-criminalise-war-8. More pics can be viewed at this url.

The following day I went again ... The topic discussed was interesting - War and the Mass Media. Among the 'supposed to be' panelists were YB Dato Seri Utama Rais Yatim, Mr Sami Al Hajj - a Sudanese journalist for Al Jazeera network. He was detained as 'enemy cobatant' at the Guantanamo Bay. Detained in 2001 and released in 2008. Mr Sami delivered his bits in Arabic and was perfectly and proficiently translated by a person named Mr Moazzam Begg. The Merdeka Hall was heated by questions from the audience. Towards the end I gotto know that Mr Begg was one of the detainees also held in Guantanamo Bay. He is one of nine British citizens imprisoned for a crime he didnt commit. He is now the Director of Cage Prisoners and currently work closely with leading human rights organizations.

To those who are strong ... come and see at your very own eyes the torture chamber .... The exhibition ends this Saturday, 31 Oct 2009. The initiatives of the Conference are:

- to stop the slaughter of innocents
- to stop profiteers earning blood money
- to stop the mass media from glorifying war
- to stop the manufacture of weapons.

"How can we claim to be civilised when we condone and legalise mass killings of men,
women and children, the old and the sick as a solution to conflicts between nations"
- Tun Mahathir -.