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/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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