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Civil Liberties Panel Is A Sham
(Caroline Drees, Reuters, August 8, 2005)
A civil liberties board ordered by Congress last year has never met to discuss its job of protecting rights in the fight against terrorism, and critics say it is a toothless, under-funded shell with inadequate support from President Bush. . . . Lawmakers including some Republicans, civil rights advocates, a member of the Sept. 11 commission and a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board have expressed concerns. . . . Lanny Davis, the only well-known liberal among the five people Bush nominated after a six-month delay, said he had not received a call from anyone related to the board since it was formally announced in June. . . . The inactivity comes as Congress is about to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act, which gave the government new powers to go after suspected terrorists. . . . Asked why it was taking so long to set the board up, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) said, "It's not a priority for the administration." . . . almost eight months after its inception, critics say the panel still exists only on paper, and lacks the money, power and presidential backing to ensure the entire government respects Americans' rights. . . . The Bush-appointed panel "is a very watered-down board without the kinds of powers which I believe are necessary to provide credibility and authority, such as independent subpoena power . . . and a bipartisan process in selection," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the Sept. 11 commission. . . . "We don't think the board serves as a credible watchdog," said Tim Edgar, national security policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. . . . Critics, including Thompson, also ask why it took Bush half a year to nominate the five board members when the administration acted much faster to implement other, more complex parts of the 2004 law. The Senate must still confirm the chairman and vice chairman after it returns from its summer recess. . . . Shays, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and other lawmakers have proposed an amendment granting the panel greater independence and powers, including subpoena authority. . . . Right now, Maloney said, "it does not have teeth. It does not have enforcement. It does not have strength behind it."

. . . Read more!

posted by LoZo 7:02 AM

 

US challenged over 'secret jails'
(BBC NEWS, 4 August 2005)
Two Yemeni men claim they were held in secret, underground US jails for more than 18 months without being charged, Amnesty International has said. . . . The human rights group has called on the US to reveal details of the alleged secret detention of suspects abroad. . . . Amnesty fears the case is part of a "much broader picture" in which the US holds prisoners at secret locations. . . . In the new report, Amnesty has urged the US to reveal where its alleged secret detention facilities are, stop using them and name the detainees held there. . . . The two Yemeni men, Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim Ali, were arrested separately but reported almost identical experiences to Amnesty. . . . Mr Muhammad says he was arrested in 2003 in Jordan, while Mr Salah says he was detained in Indonesia the same year and later flown to Jordan. . . . Both say they were tortured for four days by Jordanian intelligence services. . . . Alleged methods include being beaten on the feet while bound and suspended upside-down. One of the men claims he was threatened with sexual abuse and electric shocks. . . . Each says he was then flown to an unnamed underground jail, where he was held in solitary confinement for six to eight months with no access to lawyers. . . . Both claim they were interrogated every day by US guards about their activities in Indonesia and Afghanistan. . . . They say a period in a second underground prison followed, where loud Western music was piped into the cell 24 hours a day and questioning by US officials continued. . . . The men were transferred in May this year to Yemen, where they are still being held without charge. . . . Amnesty says the Yemeni authorities say they are only holding the men because the US has "made it a condition of their release from secret detention". . . . Amnesty's Sharon Critoph, who interviewed the men in Yemen, said: "To be 'disappeared' from the face of the earth without knowing why or for how long is a crime under international law and an experience no-one should have to go through. . . . "We fear that what we have heard from these two men is just one small part of the much broader picture of US secret detentions around the world." . . . Michael Ratner, of the US campaign group Center for Constitutional Rights, said the report was the first to touch on the "netherworld of secret detention facilities that the CIA is running".

. . . Read more!

posted by LoZo 10:15 PM