Posted on 06/11/2002 5:25:10 PM PDT by GeneD
The Bush administration came under fire from civil rights groups yesterday for its decision to hold the suspected "dirty bomb" plotter in military custody and deny him access to civilian courts.
The American Civil Liberties Union, among others, said that if the case against Abdullah al-Muhajir, formerly known as Jose Padilla, was as serious as the government claimed, there was no reason not to charge him in the normal way and grant him full access to a lawyer.
The criticism is the latest in a long list of complaints over the American government's apparently cavalier attitude towards constitutional rights in its "war on terrorism".
Mr Muhajir's detention in a naval brig in South Carolina appears to have created a whole new category of detainee, since he is a US citizen but has nevertheless been designated an "enemy combatant", like the Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters being held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Unlike the Guantanamo prisoners, however, he is unambiguously on US soil and so cannot be said to be outside the jurisdiction of civilian courts.
The ACLU specifically accused President George Bush of reneging on his commitment not to subject US citizens to military justice and said the government should explain why it has chosen not to charge Mr Muhajir. "For the United States to maintain its moral authority in the fight against terrorism, its actions must be implemented in accordance with core American legal and social values," said the organisation's executive director, Antony Romero.
John Ashcroft, the Attorney General, said Mr Muhajir's treatment was based on a precedent from the Second World War that was upheld by the Supreme Court. He said his critics had it all wrong. "The fight against terrorism is a fight to secure civil rights. It is the terrorist who threatens the liberty, freedom, equality, human dignity and even the existence of humanity."
The Bush administration has drawn fire from conservatives and liberals, as well as the international community, for abandoning due process since 11 September. The legality of the Guantanamo detentions is the subject of a federal lawsuit to be heard next month.
Clearly, he's insane. So we need to commit him, and provide a variety of therapies (all free, of course!). I believe some electroshock therapy would be a good place to start. Castration could help to correct any hormonal imbalance. And, in the end, a nice lobotomy might help.
Just call me Mr. Compassion.
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I say put him in a cell with Helen Thomas for a couple of months.
Who are these "campaigners" the article talks about?
Which "conservatives" are known to have fired on the Bush administration?
Inquiring minds want to know.
This issue, the primary mechanism sustaining today's illegal alien invasion needs to be reexamined.
Well, from http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/chicagosuspect020611.html, come the following excerpts:
Al Muhajir's lawyer accused the government of violating his constitutional rights.
"He is being detained unconstitutionally, I believe. He has not been charged. There are no limitations on his detention. It is a violation of due process," said Donna Newman, who has represented al Muhajir before. She said she had not been allowed to meet with al Muhajir.
Newman said her client was "very upset" by his treatment since his arrest.
"He was moved everywhere in a three-piece suit of irons," she said. "The circumstances were very, very upsetting. He is no different than any other American; he is a human being and a citizen."
She said that al Muhajir was a father and had a "very loving family."
And later, in the same locale:
But civil rights advocates expressed concern over the administration's approach.
"I think we ought to be concerned about rights here," David Cole, of Georgetown University Law School, said Monday night on ABCNEWS' Nightline.
Cole said when the military tribunals were first announced, the president assured Americans they would be for non-citizens only.
But then al Muhajir was arrested, said Cole, and put into military custody, with no right to a lawyer or a hearing.
"And the government has asserted the right to hold him without a trial, until this war on terrorism ends, which may never end," said Cole.
Which "conservatives" are known to have fired on the Bush administration?
I'm not clear on this one. Chris Matthews is often billed as a conservative, but one might dispute that. I suspect that the problem is that those strongly oriented to the US Constitution question the seeming suspension of various civil rights in the case of this traitor. That being said, I am unable to offer any sources.
Oh really?
If you STILL think this is OK, think about Clinton and Reno announcing that McViegh was guilty but would not be tried.
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