[Vision2020] Sali Seeks to Delay Mexican Consulate

[Ted Moffett]

On 5/4/08, keely emerinemix <kjajmix1 at msn.com> wrote:

>
>  I feel a glow of pride in my country when I reflect on the fact that
> detainees cannot legally be hit, tortured, verbally abused, ...  I've been
> accused of being unpatriotic, but I'm damned proud that whatever its myriad
> other faults, my country offers basic civil liberties to prisoners and
> detainees.  I'm so sorry Donovan can't join me in that.
>
> Keely
>

I wish I could share Keely's glow of pride in the US's respect for basic
civil rights, but in fact I am dismayed, disappointed and, when considering
the gravity of the changes, shocked at the undermining of basic civil
liberties by our government.  I think it is easy to forget or downplay what
has really happened to the guarantees of civil rights that many assume are
respected by the world's leading "democracy."  The changes are so
incredible, denial is an understandable response.  Of course, many people
have never been fully aware of the full extent of the weakening of civil
rights in the US.

Someone correct me if I misunderstand the current legal climate in the US
regarding basic civil liberties, but I think the evidence demonstrates
"basic civil liberties" have been recently, and still can be, denied to
prisoners and detainees, both on US soil, and on "foreign" soil either under
US control (Guantanamo), or transported to foreign soil by agents of the US
to be held by foreign agents (rendered for interrogation using torture, in
some cases, conducted by non-US agents, such as in Syria).

Unless the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and other actions
passed by the US Congress, and relevant executive orders issued by the Bush
administration, have been voided, "basic civil liberties," banning torture,
and assuring the protections of habeas corpus and the Fourth Amendment, and
other Bill of Rights protections, can be denied to "detainees" and in fact
to US citizens:

At the URL below is a summary of changes to US law in recent years (post
9/11) regarding civil rights, with URLs to numerous sources on this subject:

http://freedomfromfear.us/filemanager/active?fid=5
---------------
More commentary on the undermining of basic civil rights by our government:

http://www.llrx.com/extras/militarycommissions.htm

The Military Commissions Act threatens not just terrorists, but, as Senator
Leahy noted in his
testimony<http://judiciary.senate.gov/member_statement.cfm?id=2416&wit_id=2629>September
26, it

*would permit the President to detain indefinitely - even for life - any
alien, whether in the United States or abroad, whether a foreign resident or
a lawful permanent resident, without any meaningful opportunity for the
alien to challenge his detention. The Administration would not even need to
assert, much less prove, that the alien was an enemy combatant; it would
suffice that the alien was "awaiting [a] determination" on that issue. In
other words, the bill would tell the millions of legal immigrants living in
America, participating in American families, working for American
businesses, and paying American taxes, that our Government may at any minute
pick them up and detain them indefinitely without charge, and without any
access to the courts or even to military tribunals, unless and until the
Government determines that they are not enemy combatants.*

*Detained indefinitely, and unaccountably, until proven innocent.*

Others have gone further to state that it threatens American citizens.
Marjory Cohn (email <marjorie at tjsl.edu>,
website<http://www.tjsl.edu/faculty_m_cohn>),
professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law
<http://www.tjsl.edu/about_tjsl>in San Diego and president of the
National
Lawyers Guild <http://www.nlg.org/about/aboutus.htm>, writing September 30,
2006 for the Legal Television Network, noted in her article, "Military
Commissions Act: Unintended
Consequences?"<http://www.legalnews.tv/commentary/the_military_commissions_act_unintended_consequences_20060930.html>

*Because the bill was adopted with lightning speed, barely anyone noticed
that it empowers Bush to declare not just aliens, but also U.S. citizens,
"unlawful enemy combatants."*

She added,

*Anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on Bush's list of
"terrorist" organizations, or who speaks out against the government's
policies could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned
indefinitely. That includes American citizens.*

In addition to both those criticisms, the Center for Constitutional Rights
added in its briefing
paper<http://ccr-ny.org/v2/legal/Docs/MCA_Signing_Briefing_Paper.pdf>notes
that:

*The definitions of rape and sexual assault are narrower than under
international
law and have higher thresholds for proof.*

It adds that the law authorizes:

   - *authorizes the President to determine what constitutes torture;*
   - *authorizes the use of evidence obtained by coercion;*
   - *authorizes the use of hearsay; and*
   - *authorizes retroactive immunity for U.S. military and intelligence
   officials for
   abuses that occurred at sites such as, Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, Bagram
   and secret CIA facilities.*

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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