We knew before the illegal invasion of Iraq began that the U.S. government would be pushing legislature through Congress, and we agreed that we'd have to pay attention to that. (Please note: This is not a war; Patriot II itself states that the U.S. has not been involved in a war in more than 60 years.) While we mourn for those who are suffering and dying under weapons of mass destruction, let's remain close in our communities and active in our dialogues.
WE ARE ALL TERRORISTS
The first page alone of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (aka Patriot II) is off-the-charts alarming. In defining terrorism, Section 101: Individual Terrorists as Foreign Powers reads, "This provision would expand FISA's definition of "foreign power" to include *all* persons, regardless of whether they are affiliated with an international terrorist group, who engage in international terrorism."
Proceeding to Section 102: Clandestine Intelligence Activities by Agent of a Foreign Power: "FISA currently defines "agent of a foreign power" to include a person who knowingly engages in clandestine intelligence gathering activities on behalf of a foreign power -- but only if those activities "involve or may involve a violation of" federal criminal law. Requiring the additional showing that the intelligence gathering violates the laws of the United States is both unnecessary and counterproductive.. Any person who engages in clandestine intelligence gathering activities for a foreign power would qualify as an "agent of foreign power," regardless of whether those activities are federal crimes."
"Clandestine"?
"Intelligence"?
So, with law out the window, how are these offenses qualified, and by whom? If detainment is at the sole discretion of the Attorney General, and detainees are not only denied the right to trial, but denied contact with *all persons*, then this administration is indeed positioned to detain anyone perceived to be an Other, be it an international resident or a domestic dissident.
"Terrorist"?
You can download Patriot II at
www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=502&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0 &L5=0
RACIAL PROFILING
"Since September 11, the INS and FBI have detained over 1,200 immigrants, mainly of Arab or South Asian (especially Pakistani) origin. Most are accused only of minor immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa. Despite Attorney General Ashcroft's assurances to the contrary, many are being held without access to legal assistance or proper care."
www.drumnation.org/stopdc.html
"SEVIS is a national computer system operated by the INS.. Under SEVIS, information on every international student is automatically provided to the government via computer. Much more information on each student collected and input. SEVIS works like the Interpol database. The information is shared among federal agencies (and even other countries!), and the student has no control over what is provided."
www.stopsevis.org
SEND A FREE FAX URGING CONGRESS TO STOP THE PROFILING
www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/ImmigrantsRights.cfm?ID=11561&c=95
INS DETAINEES: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
In the two months following the attacks, the Justice Department refused to release specific information about detainees. Groups estimated that more than 1,000 people had been detained, but it was unclear who they were, why they had been detained, or whether any had been released.
www.rcfp.org/secretjustice/terrorism/detainment.html
"The Department of Justice has argued that disclosing the names and other information about post- September 11 detainees held on immigration charges and opening their immigration hearings to the public could compromise its terrorism-related investigations." Yet, "it is difficult to square the Department of Justice's contention that terrorist organizations are extremely sophisticated and could put together bits and pieces of information from hundreds of hearings around the country, with the argument that official disclosure would alert such organizations to who has been detained. Sophisticated terrorist groups likely already know through their own networks whether any of their members or allies have been arrested."
www.hrw.org/reports/2002/us911/USA0802-02.htm#P474_104537
LEGGO MY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT!
"[T]he DSEA would revoke key elements of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted to prevent government from keeping secrets from the public unless a legitimate security concern exists. Currently, FOIA gives us the right to know if a missing person is in the custody of any government agency. But under DSEA, anyone -- even U.S. citizens -- could be detained secretly in connection with any "terrorist" investigation, a term lacking legal definition.
reclaimdemocracy.org/civil_rights/patriot_act_ii_oped.html
KEEPING THE WORLD SAFE FOR HUMANITY
A NYTimes article reveals that the treatment of U.S. military prisoners at Guantánamo Bay has yielded criticism: "without individual hearings to determine the prisoners' status, without charges and trials, critics see Guantánamo as a synonym for human rights violations. While there is no indication of physical torture.. they still lack the basic legal rights that many countries, including the United States, have agreed are fundamental even to warriors."
Gen. Rick Baccus of the Army, who commands the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, says, "While the public debates the technicalities of how these people should be classified," he said, "we will continue to follow the traditions of humane treatment." He added: "In other countries, these detainees would not be heard from again."
Patriot II would make it possible indeed that these detainees would not be heard from again. Even the directors of the U.S. military's most aggressive jails acknowledge that Patriot II is contrary to USAmerican concepts of justice.
www.nytimes.com/2002/09/16/international/americas/16DETA.html
PRESUMED GUILTY: ANSER MEHMOOD
Anser Mehmood came to the U.S. from Pakistan in 1989. "On [September 11, 2001], he failed to make a scheduled delivery to Washington, DC. Mehmood was taken into custody along with several thousand other men of Middle Eastern and South Asian origin. Mehmood remains here in custody although it turned out that it was his company that cancelled his September 11th shipment to Washington when they learned of the Pentagon bombing."
www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_family2.html
The official charge on Anser Mehmood are an overstayed visa and and altered security card (to secure employment). Uzma Mehmood, Anser's wife, and their children have been forced to return to Pakistan, while Anser remains in a NJ jail. "He is held without a bond on a very specious affidavit put in by an FBI agent. And put in the special housing unit otherwise known as 'The Hole'. It's solitary confinement he's locked down 23 and a half hours a day. He's fed through a slot in the door."
www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_familydivided.html Stories of other innocent detainees are here:
www.hrw.org/reports/2002/us911/USA0802-01.htm#P217_31161
"I DIDN'T SPEAK OUT"
They came for the Communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
-- Pastor Martin Niemoller
The climate is rapidly changing such that it is more and more likely that a good number of U.S.-born citizens might be subject to detainment. I'm sure I'm a good candidate, with the money I have given and continue to give to organizations such as MoveOn.org and ZNet, which are today considered treasonous at best.
How might they know who I've donated money to? Well for starters, a new security program to be implemented by Delta Airlines later this month will mean that when you book a flight to or from one of three undisclosed airports, you will be subject to a credit check, an investigation of your banking history, and a criminal background check. The controls on how this information will be used has not been adequately defined. This appears to be illegal. It is an egregious invasion of privacy.
www.nytimes.com/2003/03/06/business/06FLY.html?ex=1047531600&en=27fa9 893300c6439&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
SAUDI SUSPECTS OFF LIMITS
Maybe one reason the number of detainees is so high is, they're looking for a needle in a haystack: an innocent on whom to pin a colossal, heinous crime. from an interview with journalist Greg Palast:
"In the eight weeks since the attacks, over 1,000 suspects and potential witnesses have been detained. Yet, just days after the hijackers took off from Boston aiming for the Twin Towers, a special charter flight out of the same airport whisked 11 members of Osama Bin Laden's family off to Saudi Arabia. That did not concern the White House.
"Their official line is that the Bin Ladens are above suspicion - apart from Osama, the black sheep, who they say hijacked the family name. That's fortunate for the Bush family and the Saudi royal household, whose links with the Bin Ladens could otherwise prove embarrassing. But Newsnight has obtained evidence that the FBI was on the trail of other members of the Bin Laden family for links to terrorist organisations before and after September 11th.
"This document is marked "Secret". Case ID - 199-Eye WF 213 589. 199 is FBI code for case type. 9 would be murder. 65 would be espionage. 199 means national security. WF indicates Washington field office special agents were investigating ABL - because of it's relationship with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, WAMY - a suspected terrorist organisation. ABL is Abdullah Bin Laden, president and treasurer of WAMY."
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/newsnight/1645527.stm
More from Palast:
"FBI agents had wanted to check into two members of the Bin Laden family, Abdullah and Omar, but were told to stay away by superiors -- until September 13, 2001. By then, Abdullah and Omar were long gone from the United States.
www.guerrillanews.com/government/doc1148.html
"The intelligence agencies had been told to "back off" from investigations involving other members of the Bin Laden family, the Saudi royals, and possible Saudi links to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Pakistan."
www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,589168,00.html
[Editorial Note: I want to be clear that this reporting is not anti-Saudi; it is of course offered to evidence the lack of integrity and justice in the current U.S. administration]
WHY WAIT FOR PATRIOT II? DETAIN TODAY! Sadly, even without Patriot II, immigrants are being detained on trivial charges, without recourse:
Rules on Detention Widened: FBI, Marshals Can Hold Foreigners: Attorney General John D. Ashcroft has issued orders that allow FBI agents and U.S. marshals to detain foreign nationals for alleged immigration violations in cases where there is not enough evidence to hold them on criminal charges, according to Justice Department officials and a copy of the rules.
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56948-2003Mar19.html
Registration Program Problems Cited: Immigrants' Attorneys Kept From Investigative Interviews: "The failure to provide clear and explicit directions to local immigration officials is inexcusable given the absolute right to legal counsel," said Lucas Guttentag, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. He charged that the "foot-dragging" could be explained only by a reluctance to dig into the matter before the registration deadlines have passed.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55994-2003Mar19.html
HOW MUCH BAD HISTORY CAN WE BEAR TO REPEAT? Let's not forget FDR's passage of Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans between 1942 and 1944.
www.sscnet.ucla.edu/aasc/ex9066/
WHO HOW & WHAT 2 RELAY Many thanks to contributors Natasha Dwyer, Allison Cobb, and Tom Orange.
Thanks to everyone for participating. I'm sorry to say that I'm unable to manage unsolicited content for Relay; if you find something to circulate, why not relay it directly to your own address book? We like it when those cats at Clamor Magazine say, Become the Media!
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TOY SURPRISE! A friend reminded me a few months ago that throughout our fighting and disgust, we need to make a world worth saving. Pursue beauty. Laughter. Celebrate our relationships. In that spirit, I encourage you to visit some terrific NYC subway graffiti from the 1970s:
www.at149st.com/