| October 12, 2008 at 13:02:48 Headlined on 10/12/08: by Rowan Wolf Page 1 of 2 page(s) |    |
We are living in perilous times. Economies, nations, and even the planet teeter on an array of tipping points. Now, legislation which made many uneasy is playing out as we had feared it might. The umbrella of "terrorist" is expanding, and the wheels of justice threaten to grind many in the dust.
Constitutional rights and protections are being tossed aside in the labeling of people as terrorists thereby calling into play everything from intense surveillance to hash imprisonment, to endless incarceration without access to courts or justice. Much of this is off the front page because of the economic meltdown and the political campaigns. But frankly, most of this wouldn't make the front pages or top of the news even if nothing else were happening. There seems to have been significant efforts to minimize coverage of these problems.
The problems started with the passage of the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T.Act, advanced with the Bush administration redefining "enemy combatant", were reinforced with the Military Commissions Act, and went over the top with ever-increasing surveillance powers. Now we have a situation where citizens and non-citizens can be held "indefinitely with limited to no access to the courts or counsel. We have a situation where even when a jury sets a sentence, that the accused can be held indefinitely. We have a situation where the labeling of people as "terrorists" brings the full force of covert surveillance into play.
Back in August 2008, military jurors were surprised to find out that Salim Hamdan (bin Laden's driver) would be held despite the tribunal ruling.Gitmo jurors disappointed convict could be held
In an interview with The Associated Press, the juror said the panel of six American military officers did not learn until the trial ended on Thursday that the Pentagon retains the right to hold Salim Hamdan as an ''enemy combatant,'' even after he completes his sentence.
''After all the effort that we put in to get somebody a fair trial ... and then to say no matter what we did it didn't matter -- I don't see that as a positive step,'' the juror said in the telephone interview.
Now fast forward to a flurry of news bites.
We have lawyers for two U.S. citizens detained on U.S. soil (namely the military jails at Norfolk, Va., and Charleston, S.C.) who have been given the "Gitmo treatment" and are being held in isolation indefinitely - to the point that their attorneys are concerned for their sanity (Documents Say American Detainee Near Insanity analyzed separately in New Documents Reveal Unlawful Guantanamo Procedures Were Also Applied On American Soil).
It has come to light that the Maryland police put the names of death penalty and Iraq "war" activists onto the national terrorist watch list, along with related (though unspecified) organizations. This broad use of the terrorism watch lists put simple activists and peaceful organization under "legal" intensive surveillance. (Maryland Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists)
We then discover that member of the "RNC Welcoming Committee" - part of an anarchist group who were protesting during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, are being held as terrorists and face up to eight years in jail. (Framing the 'RNC 8')
Meanwhile, we discover that surveillance has been very broadly used and abused - as we hear in this ABC report on 10/10/08 - NSA's Ears Wide Open.
Instead of cracking down on the abuses, our legislators continue to expand the powers of "Big Brother.". The Attorney General's (Mukasey) new "guidelines" for the FBI instead expands the powers of surveillance - not make them more specific and contained:Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Democrat Patrick Leahy said the new guidelines expand the FBI's powers of surveillance.
"It appears that with these guidelines, the attorney general is once again giving the FBI broad new powers to conduct surveillance and use other intrusive investigative techniques on Americans without requiring any indication of wrongdoing or any approval even from FBI supervisors," Leahy said in a statement.
The abridgment of habeas corpus, and the protection of citizens from the abuse of the power of government, are absolutely necessary to maintaining a democratic society. If the people fear that they may come under the increasingly aggressive watchful eye of the "security" apparatus, and then may be consequently disappeared (and tortured) for even the hint of raising a contrary voice, then we are truly lost. No claims of patriotism - or of threat to our security - is worth giving up the most fundamental of rights and protections. People, pundits, and government officials point with anger and disdain at the junta government of Myanmar while allowing the implementation of policies that reflect the worst abuses of human and civil rights.
www/uncommonthought.com/mtblog/
Rowan Wolf is an activist and sociologist living in Oregon. She is the founder and principle author of Uncommon Thought Journal, and a Senior Editor for Cyrano's Journal Online with her own page being CJO's Avenger.
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