Is anyone else upset, angry, disturbed, utterly troubled by this?!
On December 31, 2011, President Obama signed a law known as the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2012 fiscal year, or the H.R. 1540. Congress passes this act every year to monitor the budget for the Department of Defense. However, this year the NDAA bill has passed with new provisions that should have the entire country up with pitchforks.”
- The National Defense Authorization Act: Our Disappearing Rights and Liberties (read more here at the Huffington Post)
President Obama signed this bill while saying that even though it says U.S. citizens can be detained, his administration will not authorize the indefinite detention of American citizens. Obama also said that he would close Guantanamo Bay. He also said he would recall the troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. He also said he would end the Bush tax cuts. OBAMA ALSO ASSURED HE WOULD VETO THIS BILL.
And even more disconcerting, it was Obama himself who allegedly demanded that indefinite detention of American citizens be added to this bill. Read more at DigitalJournal.com
The National Lawyers Guild adds its voice to the many others who oppose this legislation. As detailed HERE, their principled opposition is based on the:
1. United States Constitution’s Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2 which enshrines the privilege to petition for habeas corpus;
2. United States Constitution’s Article 3, Section 3 which provides those charged with treason heightened due process protections;
3. United States Constitution’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure;
4. United States Constitution’s Fifth Amendment prohibition of deprivations of liberty without due process;
5. United States Constitution’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy and public trial, to knowledge of the charges, to the assistance of counsel and to confront witnesses;
6. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States has signed, and which holds that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile” (Article 9); those who are arrested are entitled to a fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal (Article 10), and all those charged with a penal offence are presumed innocent, and have the right to a public trial and all of the guarantees necessary for a defense (Article 11); and
7. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the United States has ratified, and which provides in article 9 (1): “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.”
The laws of war do not override these rights. International humanitarian law, set forth in the Geneva Conventions, applies to all battlefield hostilities, including illegal wars. The current “war on terror” is an undeclared war without end, waged everywhere on Earth. Indefinite detention for the duration of such a “war” is an immoral act of extreme injustice that makes a mockery of the idea that prisoners of war may be held only until the end of hostilities.”
