--- http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,591394,00.html Britain is to be placed under a state of 'public emergency' as part of an unprecedented government move to allow internment without trial of suspected terrorists. In a historic initiative that will incense civil liberties groups, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will lay the order before the House of Commons in the next 48 hours, to be followed by anti-terrorist legislation which will be rushed through in the next four weeks. [...] --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,591940,00.html The home secretary, David Blunkett, dismissed "airy fairy" fears about civil liberties yesterday as he announced plans to detain foreign terrorists indefinitely without a formal public trial. The plans will require the government to opt out of Article 5 on the European Convention on Human Rights, which bans arbitrary detention. [...] --- From: "Richard Bellew" <quantumat_private> To: <declanat_private> Subject: London Daily Telegraph today Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 09:54:42 -0000 Hi Declan The article in today's London Daily Telegraph about our government's use of computers to mismanage the foot and mouth (hoof & mouth in US-ian?) epidemic might be of interest to your Politech readers. It's at: http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/dt?ac=006527651614093&rtmo=a5d9qChJ&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/01/11/12/do01.html It's a deplorable tale which illustrates the saying I heard when working in the US, years ago: There's no problem so serious that Government, acting with the best of intentions, can't make worse. Regards Richard Bellew --- From: politechat_private Subject: Target of McCarthy-era witch-hunt in U.S. decries federal anti-terror law Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 12:39:38 -0500 To: declanat_private Hi Declan, I think you and POLITECH readers might be interested in reading the following article, which is a Canadian perspective to it. The article can be found at http://ca.news.yahoo.com/011109/6/dm61.html or there is a link from my web site. Robert ~~~~~~ Friday November 9 5:31 PM EST Target of McCarthy-era witch-hunt in U.S. decries federal anti-terror law By COLIN PERKEL TORONTO (CP) - A target of the 1950's anti-communist witch-hunt in the United States has blasted Canada's proposed anti-terrorist legislation as a dangerous threat to civil liberties. Author and broadcaster Lynne Gordon warned Friday that the proposed measures could lead to the kind of terrible abuse seen in 1950s America, saying the bill gives the federal government "unbelievable powers." "People, without a shot being fired, can be ruined," Gordon told a news conference. "There didn't have to be any trial, they just had to mention their name." Under Bill C-36, security police could without a warrant could arrest or jail anyone suspected of planning a terrorist attack. "You can be arrested just on preventive measures and held for so many hours or a week," Gordon said. "You have no recourse unless they decide to let you go." [...] --- The text of bill C-36 is here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-36/C-36_1/C-36_cover-E.html --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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