[Dialogue] Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006)

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on September 28, 2006 by TruthDig  <http://www.truthdig.com> 

Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006)
With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard
against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal
justice since the Magna Carta.



by Molly Ivins

 

AUSTIN, Texas - Oh dear. I'm sure he didn't mean it. In Illinois' Sixth
Congressional District, long represented by Henry Hyde, Republican candidate
Peter Roskam accused his Democratic opponent, Tammy Duckworth, of planning
to "cut and run" on Iraq. 

Duckworth is a former Army major and chopper pilot who lost both legs in
Iraq after her helicopter got hit by an RPG. "I just could not believe he
would say that to me," said Duckworth, who walks on artificial legs and uses
a cane. Every election cycle produces some wincers, but how do you apologize
for that one? 

The legislative equivalent of that remark is the detainee bill now being
passed by Congress. Beloveds, this is so much worse than even that pathetic
deal reached last Thursday between the White House and Republican Sens. John
Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham. The White House has since reinserted
a number of "technical fixes" that were the point of the putative
"compromise." It leaves the president with the power to decide who is an
enemy combatant. 

This bill is not a national security issue-this is about torturing helpless
human beings without any proof they are our enemies. Perhaps this could be
considered if we knew the administration would use the power with enormous
care and thoughtfulness. But of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only
10 have ever been formally charged with anything. Among other things, this
bill is a CYA for torture of the innocent that has already taken place. 

Death by torture by Americans was first reported in 2003 in a New York Times
article by Carlotta Gall. The military had announced the prisoner died of a
heart attack, but when Gall saw the death certificate, written in English
and issued by the military, it said the cause of death was homicide. The
"heart attack" came after he had been beaten so often on this legs that they
had "basically been pulpified," according to the coroner. 

The story of why and how it took the Times so long to print this information
is in the current edition of <http://cjr.org/issues/2006/5/Umansky.asp>  the
Columbia Journalism Review. The press in general has been late and slow in
reporting torture, so very few Americans have any idea how far it has
spread. As is often true in hierarchical, top-down institutions, the orders
get passed on in what I call the downward communications exaggeration
spiral. 

For example, on a newspaper, a top editor may remark casually, "Let's give
the new mayor a chance to see what he can do before we start attacking him."


This gets passed on as "Don't touch the mayor unless he really screws up." 

And it ultimately arrives at the reporter level as "We can't say anything
negative about the mayor." 

The version of the detainee bill now in the Senate not only undoes much of
the McCain-Warner-Graham work, but it is actually much worse than the
administration's first proposal. In one change, the original compromise
language said a suspect had the right to "examine and respond to" all
evidence used against him. The three senators said the clause was necessary
to avoid secret trials. The bill has now dropped the word "examine" and left
only "respond to." 

In another change, a clause said that evidence obtained outside the United
States could be admitted in court even if it had been gathered without a
search warrant. But the bill now drops the words "outside the United
States," which means prosecutors can ignore American legal standards on
warrants. 

The bill also expands the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant to cover
anyone who has "has purposefully and materially supported hostilities
against the United States." Quick, define "purposefully and materially." One
person has already been charged with aiding terrorists because he sold a
satellite TV package that includes the Hezbollah network. 

The bill simply removes a suspect's right to challenge his detention in
court. This is a rule of law that goes back to the Magna Carta in 1215. That
pretty much leaves the barn door open. 

As Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, wrote, an intelligence service
free to torture soon "degenerates into a playground for sadists." But not
unbridled sadism-you will be relieved that the compromise took out the words
permitting interrogation involving "severe pain" and substituted "serious
pain," which is defined as "bodily injury that involves extreme physical
pain." 

In July 2003, George Bush said in a speech: "The United States is committed
to worldwide elimination of torture, and we are leading this fight by
example. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. Yet torture
continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes, whose cruel
methods match their determination to crush the human spirit." 

Fellow citizens, this bill throws out legal and moral restraints as the
president deems it necessary-these are fundamental principles of basic
decency, as well as law. 

I'd like those supporting this evil bill to spare me one affliction: Do not,
please, pretend to be shocked by the consequences of this legislation. And
do not pretend to be shocked when the world begins comparing us to the
Nazis. 

To find out more about Molly Ivins and see works by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at
www.creators.com. 

Copyright 2006 TruthDig

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