Why the Patriot Act is scary.
A secret tribunal can declare that you are an "enemy combatant" and hold you indefinitely. In these tribunals, when you are accused of something, you are not given the opportunity to present your own case. You are presumed guilty, and essentially cannot prove your innocence.
These people were detained two years before they had the opportunity to challenge their imprisonment before sham tribunals. Basically, how do you challenge an imprisonment when you haven't been charged? How do you prove your innocence when you don't know the claims and evidence against you? These prisoners have no rights. I think it especially damning that a tribunal president (judge) exclaimed, "I don't care about international law. I don't want to hear the words 'international law' again. We are not concerned with international law."
Although this scenario is highly unlikely, it is based on a true story. Perhaps you live in an American neighborhood with a high concentration of Muslims. Also, your name is Mohammed and you are Muslim. You see a news report asking for information about known terrorists. You recognize one as someone who lived in your building and prayed in your mosque. You come forward with this information. FBI agents pick you up and detain you for questioning, yet do not release you because they suspect you are lying about your involvement or withholding information. They put you before a tribunal, the president of which declares you an "enemy combatant," and they hold you in a cell someplace for two years or more. Of what are you guilty? What does it take to make someone an "enemy combatant"? Basically, there are no hard and fast criteria for status as an "enemy combatant" in the Patriot Act. It's left to the discretion of a tribunal.
Who appoints the tribunals? The same branch of the government that seeks to label a detainee as an "enemy combatant."
I understand our government's need for increased authority to detain, question, or watch people who they suspect of terrorism affiliations. Al Qaeda is shadowy. They are succesful because they are shadowy. Indefinite imprisonment, however, is inhumane, probably unconstitutional in this context, and is not the answer. If I remove one employee from a company of thousands, will that company shut down? Unlikely. In fact, this behavior discourages other Muslims who are also unaffiliated with Al Qaeda from coming forward with information. Isn't the war against terror about information?
The unclassified basis for determining that Mohammed Nechle is an enemy combatant is that he associates with people who have ties to terrorist organizations. Skip to page 12 for the discussion of the convincing evidence that he's an enemy combatant.
Mostly, I'm afraid of "enemy combatant." The G can "disappear" me, call me an enemy combatant and it's possible that nobody will ever know.
These people were detained two years before they had the opportunity to challenge their imprisonment before sham tribunals. Basically, how do you challenge an imprisonment when you haven't been charged? How do you prove your innocence when you don't know the claims and evidence against you? These prisoners have no rights. I think it especially damning that a tribunal president (judge) exclaimed, "I don't care about international law. I don't want to hear the words 'international law' again. We are not concerned with international law."
Although this scenario is highly unlikely, it is based on a true story. Perhaps you live in an American neighborhood with a high concentration of Muslims. Also, your name is Mohammed and you are Muslim. You see a news report asking for information about known terrorists. You recognize one as someone who lived in your building and prayed in your mosque. You come forward with this information. FBI agents pick you up and detain you for questioning, yet do not release you because they suspect you are lying about your involvement or withholding information. They put you before a tribunal, the president of which declares you an "enemy combatant," and they hold you in a cell someplace for two years or more. Of what are you guilty? What does it take to make someone an "enemy combatant"? Basically, there are no hard and fast criteria for status as an "enemy combatant" in the Patriot Act. It's left to the discretion of a tribunal.
Who appoints the tribunals? The same branch of the government that seeks to label a detainee as an "enemy combatant."
I understand our government's need for increased authority to detain, question, or watch people who they suspect of terrorism affiliations. Al Qaeda is shadowy. They are succesful because they are shadowy. Indefinite imprisonment, however, is inhumane, probably unconstitutional in this context, and is not the answer. If I remove one employee from a company of thousands, will that company shut down? Unlikely. In fact, this behavior discourages other Muslims who are also unaffiliated with Al Qaeda from coming forward with information. Isn't the war against terror about information?
The unclassified basis for determining that Mohammed Nechle is an enemy combatant is that he associates with people who have ties to terrorist organizations. Skip to page 12 for the discussion of the convincing evidence that he's an enemy combatant.
Mostly, I'm afraid of "enemy combatant." The G can "disappear" me, call me an enemy combatant and it's possible that nobody will ever know.
posted by nugatory | 5:28 PM
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