-Caveat Lector-
Rights Groups Say US Anti-
Terrorism Law Goes
'Light Years' Too Far
By Jim Lobe
OneWorld.net
10-29-1
United States civil liberties and immigrant rights groups are
charging that a new anti-terrorist bill signed into law by
President
George W. Bush Friday threatens the constitutional rights of
citizens and non-U.S. residents.
The bill, which was passed by the Senate 98-1 yesterday, grants
federal authorities sweeping new surveillance and detention
powers in suspected terrorism cases, including the power to hold
non-U.S. citizens virtually indefinitely with very limited
judicial
review.
"This bill goes light years beyond what is necessary to combat
terrorism," said Laura Murphy, director of the Washington
office of
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "Included in the
bill are
provisions that would allow for the mistreatment of immigrants,
the
suppression of dissent, and the investigation and surveillance
of
wholly innocent Americans."
The bill, drawn up in the immediate aftermath of the devastating
September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, was
approved by the House of Representatives earlier this week by a
vote of 357-66. Most lawmakers who opposed the measure
echoed complaints made by the ACLU and other rights groups.
This week's swift legislative action followed protracted
negotiations
on Capitol Hill aimed at reaching a carefully drawn
anti-terrorist
package. But, amid the anthrax scare which has dominated news
in Washington in recent days, a compromise proposal worked out
in the House was cast aside in favor of the tougher,
administration-backed bill.
Noting that the final version was sent to the floor at a time
when
many lawmakers and their staffs could not even access their
offices--which were closed off by public-health authorities
investigating anthrax contamination--the ACLU called this week's
votes "deeply flawed and an offence to the thoughtful
legislative
process necessary to protect the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights."
The groups are particularly alarmed by provisions which greatly
expand the ability of law enforcement authorities to wiretap
phones, faxes, and other electronic devices, monitor computer
email, and obtain personal information of terrorism suspects
with a
minimum of judicial review.
In a bid to reassure critics, the bill's sponsors agreed to a
"sunset"
provision by which these powers will end in four years unless
Congress votes to extend them.
Of even greater concern are provisions affecting non-citizens.
Under the new law, the attorney general may detain non-citizens
suspected of terrorism for seven days without a hearing before
either charging them with a crime or releasing them. If they are
found to have violated even a technical provision of immigration
laws, they may be deported immediately or detained
indefinitely, if
the attorney-general certifies that they may threaten national
security.
"This unprecedented power can be used against any non-citizen
about whom the Attorney General has no more than a mere
suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity, a level of
suspicion
that ordinarily would justify only a brief stop and frisk on the
street." said Elisa Massimino, director of the Washington
office of
the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
"Now it can result in a virtual life sentence, and the bill
provides
only the barest of judicial oversight of the Attorney General's
new
power," she added.
Since the September 11 attacks, almost 1,000
non-citizens--virtually all of them of Arab or South Asian
descent--have been rounded up and detained by law enforcement
authorities in a sweep which has drawn concern from Amnesty
International, among other human rights groups. One 55-year-old
Pakistani detainee held in a New Jersey jail for more than a
month
for overstaying his visa died, apparently of heart failure,
last week.
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