FC: More on Bush's secret military tribunals; WashPost editorial

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Fri Nov 16 2001 - 13:08:53 PST

  • Next message: Declan McCullagh: "FC: Stimson Center replies to accusations it demands gvt censorship"

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38008-2001Nov15.html
      "When Americans accused of terrorism are tried in secret courts by
       hooded judges in Peru or other nations, the U.S. government rightly
       objects. To authorize comparable trials in this country will erase any
       legitimacy of such objections. Worse, it will erode throughout the
       world the image of America as a place where certain freedoms cannot be
       compromised -- freedoms that ultimately provide the most basic
       justification for this country to stake its claim to lead the world
       and wage the war on terrorism. And worse in turn than the blow to the
       U.S. image abroad will be the potentially irreversible injury at home
       if Mr. Bush proceeds, as his order would allow, to undermine the rule
       of law."
    
    ---
    
    http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,48443,00.html
    
       Bush's Tribunals Under Fire
       By Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
      
       2:00 a.m. Nov. 16, 2001 PST
       WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision to try civilians before secret
       military tribunals could lead to the kind of showdown between the Army
       and the judiciary not seen since the Civil War.
       
       Bush quietly signed an executive order this week that says any
       suspected terrorist "who is not a United States citizen" can be
       arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced by the U.S. military.
       
       The two-page order, drawing on the president's authority as
       commander-in-chief during wartime, says a secret military tribunal may
       impose sentences as harsh as death on illegal visitors to the United
       States, green-card holders or tourists who are accused of terrorism.
       
       By filing a so-called writ of habeas corpus, attorneys representing
       someone facing a tribunal could petition the civilian courts to take
       up the case, a move that could lead to a rare tussle between civilian
       and military authorities.
    
       [...]
    
    
    
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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/
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Nov 16 2001 - 13:48:04 PST