[IP] more on Yes, it CAN happen here. (Happening right now, in fact)

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: September 30, 2006 11:28:45 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Yes, it CAN happen here. (Happening right  
now, in fact)


> It does not deny habeus (sic) corpus to U.S. citizens.

The new detainee law (which even most of its supporters suggest will
likely be struck down) specifically provides that the persons it
covers cannot appeal their detentions until after they are tried in
the tribunals.  It does not force the government to actually try
such persons, and in fact only a relatively few persons have
actually been charged.  The government can choose to try people on
multiple charges at various times, or not to try them at all.

This means -- no two ways to read it -- that people can be held
under this law *for the rest of their lives* without ever having
been charged or tried, and without any independent verification
that they ever should have been held in the first place.

Also, the new law explicitly allows the use of information that was
obtained through torture prior to a recent deadline, apparently
still permits a variety of techniques that most people would
consider to be torture despite the fancy hairsplitting going on, and
permits the use of hearsay evidence.

We've already seen cases of innocents who were incorrectly held and
tortured in this process, either at the hands of the U.S. or our
allies.  There are sure to be more.  In every other U.S. war,
combatants were repatriated within relatively short spans after the
end of hostilities.  But we're told that the "war on terror" (like
the "war on drugs," one assumes) will last for generations -- maybe
forever.

The fact that the law may "only" apply to non-U.S. citizens is little
comfort.  There's nothing in the U.S. Constitution about habeas
corpus only applying to U.S. citizens.  We're setting a pattern not
only for abuse of our citizens by other countries, but for future
abuses against our own citizens right here, which will be similarly
justified.

This entire session of Congress fell short of even 100 days.  More
than a quarter of those were half days or less.  As far as I'm
concerned, Congress' behavior in terms of legislation and logistics
this session has been disgusting and an affront to the honor of our
country.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com




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