Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 20:49:44 -0700 (MST)
From: thekoba 
Subject: [azsecularhumanists] Habeas Corpus is under attack
To: azsecularhumanists@yahoogroups.com




    12 June 2002
    Kevin James Walsh
    Phoenix AZ 85018-1503
    thekoba 

    Letters to the Editor
    The Arizona Republic
    Phoenix AZ
    opinions@arizonarepublic.com

    Dear Editor:

    A native-born citizen of the USA, Abdullah al-Muhajir, formerly
    known as Jose Padilla, has been arrested within the border of the
    USA by the government, but has not been charged with any crime.
    The government has indicated it intends to hold him indefinitely
    as an enemy combatant without charging him wth a crime.  This is
    a flagrant violation of his right to habeas corpus, and it should
    concern all Americans, because when the government can get away with
    violating one citizen's rights, it will be emboldened to violate
    the rights of other citizens.

    Habeas corpus is the right to be secure from indefinite arbitrary
    imprisonment.  Habeas corpus requires that anyone detained by the
    authorities either be charged with a crime and prosecuted or
    released after a given period (usually 72 hours or less).  This may
    seem like a trivial and obscure right to some, but it is in fact
    the cornerstone of all our rights.  Without habeas corpus, none of
    our rights would effectively exist.

    Imagine a country in which the police could arrest anyone and hold him
    or her as long as they wished without charging that person with a
    crime.  Freedom of speech might still exist on paper, but few people
    would dare say anything critical of the government, for fear of
    arbitrary imprisonment.  The rights to be secure from unreasonable
    search and seizure, not to incriminate onesself, to have a fair trial
    if accused of a crime may all still exist on paper, but without habeas
    corpus, the police would just lock up uncooperative suspects without a
    trial.  The right to be secure from cruel and unusual punishment might
    still exist on paper, but when one's imprisonment is administrative
    action rather than punishment for a crime, this is cold comfort.  A
    society without habeas corpus could not be anything but a police state.

    The administration's excuse that Muhajir is an "enemy combatant" is
    absurd for the simple reason that there is no enemy.  Under our
    constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war, a power it
    has not exercised since 1941.  Further, wars must be declared against
    nations, not organizations.  Taliban-held Afghanistan may have once been
    a de facto nation, but it no longer is.  The Taliban no longer
    consistently control any territory, and neither does al-Qaida.

    If we allow wars to be declared by presidential edict and such "wars"
    to be used as an excuse to imprison Americans without charges, we are
    setting a very dangerous precedent and giving one person dictatorial
    powers over the entire country.  If we allow organizations to be
    considered at war with the United States, even if they no longer
    control any territory, how do we know when the war is over?  The
    administration could always use the excuse that even though there
    hasn't been any fighting for a while, some members of al-Qaida may be
    preparing an attack or in hiding somewhere.  The excuse could keep
    the USA in a state of war and internal repression for decades until
    the last al-Qaida member must have died of natural causes!

    We must put a stop to this.  The administration must either put up or
    shut up and release Muhajir.  If they have evidence that Muhajir
    entered into a conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, they
    can put him on trial and give him a lengthy term of imprisonment, war
    or no war.  If not, they should release him.  The "war on terror"
    has shown its true colours.  It is, in fact, a war on the Bill of
    Rights, and we are the enemy.  Let's fight back before it's too late.

    Sincerely,

    Kevin Walsh

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