be brought before a judge or court, esp. for investigation of a
restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against
illegal imprisonment." However, in a nutshell, it's a basic law that
stops a leader, even a president, from snagging you off the street and
imprisoning you for as long as he/she likes. It's one of the main
foundations of the United States. It's the main reason we have an
elected president (in theory) instead of a king.
The bad news is that according to an article at Accuracy.Org (found
here: http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=1354), HC is
hanging in the balance thanks to a new anti-torture law that's on its
way to being passed. Here's a clip:
While the
Warner-Graham-McCain bill has gotten substantial attention with
regards to its Geneva conventions provisions, the Center for
Constitutional Rights has criticized both the bill and the
administration's proposal as gutting habeas corpus.
....
President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, {Michael} Ratner
said today: "The Warner-Graham-McCain bill denies habeas corpus to all
aliens held outside the United States and currently in U.S. custody.
And 'outside' includes Guantanamo.
"However in the case of those who have been found to be unlawful enemy
combatants by Combatant Status Review Tribunal (combatant status
review panels used at Guantanamo) it gives a meaningless court of
appeals 'review' -- a review that examines whether or not the U.S.
complied with its own procedures -- but not ... a real court hearing
with factual development as habeas corpus requires.
"For those aliens detained outside the U.S. that have not had CSRT
hearings -- the high majority -- in facilities like Bagram in
Afghanistan, the Warner bill simply abolished habeas or any other
court review.
"The consequences are breathtaking. The U.S. can pick up any alien,
even a legal permanent resident in the U.S., and take them to an
off-shore prison and hold them forever without any kind of court
hearing.
"While all the attention on this legislation has focused on Geneva
conventions and military commissions, the Warner alternative, like the
administration bill, authorizes lifelong detention without habeas or
any genuine review whatsoever."
Isn't that nice?
Of course, we know that the Bush Admin has created the term "Enemy
Combatant" in order to create a loophole in the Geneva Conventions.
See, there's no definition of an enemy combatant so they can define
one any way they want and, worse, treat them any way they want.
(Enemy soldiers must be treated a certain way and so should enemy
civilians, but if they're armed but don't wear a uniform, what does
that make them? Enemy Combatants!) Of course, treating ECs any way
you want is still illegal assuming you consider the Declaration of
Independence as a legal document. It does state that ALL men are
created equal--NOT just American men.
Ah well. That's what's fun about dictators--they can do what ever
they want and can call it legal--just like Bush and Co. say that
they're not torturing people when they torture them.
I believe Orwell called that Doublespeak.
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