Also Try
- Countering Terrorism
Lesson Plans
- Civil Liberties and Open Debate in a Time of Crisis (Cato Institute - Pilon)
"But we must fight that evil [terrorism] in a manner consistent with our principles so that when this war is over those principles will still be standing, to nourish us and the world thereafter." 7-02
- Civil Liberties and September 11th (New York Times - Glasthal and Khan)
"In this lesson, students evaluate the effectiveness and fairness of proposed military tribunals designed to fight terrorism. They will then compare American civil liberties, as stated in the U.S. Bill of Rights, with changes in these rights that may take place for some individuals living in the U.S., as a result of the U.S.A. Patriot Act." 2-02
- Civil Liberties in a Time of Crisis (American Bar Association - Dempsey)
"The debate over terrorism is often framed as a trade-off between liberty and security. This is a flawed calculus, in several respects. First, many civil liberties, far from being at odds with security, actually enhance the ability of the government to defend the common good. We guarantee the right to confront one’s accusers, for example, not only as an element of human dignity but also because cross-examination exposes lies and forces the government to continue looking until the truly guilty party is found." 7-02
- Liberties vs. Security Lesson (CNNfyi.com)
Provides a lesson to help students balance the need for security with civil liberties rights. 11-01
- Review of the USA Patriot Act (Center for Constitutional Rights)
"The task of upholding the Bill of Rights-or acquiescing in its surrender-will soon fall to the judiciary, as lawsuits testing the constitutionality of the USA PATRIOT Act wind their way through the courts." 7-02
- Review of the USA Patriot Act (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
"With this law we have given sweeping new powers to both domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies and have eliminated the checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that these powers were not abused." 7-02
- Security Versus Privacy Lesson - Grades 9 - 12 (New York Times)
"In this lesson, students evaluate the possible effects of the United States government's Fidnet plan, which would involve creating a computer monitoring system to protect the nation's crucial data networks...." 5-02
Lists
- Support of Liberties While Pursuing Security (Electronic Privacy Information Center)
Provides sources of information in support of civil liberties while pursuing national security. Quotes (Supreme Court) Justice William Brennan that encroachments on civil liberties in the name of military necessity should be viewed with skepticism. "The concept of military necessity is seductively broad, and has a dangerous plasticity. Because they invariably have the visage of overriding importance, there is always a temptation to invoke security 'necessities' to justify an encroachment upon civil liberties. For that reason, the military-security argument must be approached with a healthy skepticism." 3-02
Materials
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects - For and Against (PBS News)
Provides an audio of a debate for and against the use of military tribunals for suspected terrorists. Requires RealPlayer software. 11-01
News
- -03-18-03 Rounding Up Iraqis in America (CBS News)
"In a sweeping wave of interrogations beginning with the start of war, the bureau will visit over 10,000 Iraqi nationals living in the U.S. including 'students,' 'defectors,' 'permanent residents,' 'visitors' and even a few recently-naturalized U.S. citizens." 3-03
- 01-03-04 Brazil Fingerprints Americans Now (Miami Herald - Hall)
"Federal Police in Brazil on Friday ordered immigration authorities to begin fingerprinting and photographing American tourists as they arrive at airports, cruise ship terminals and land borders in this continent-sized nation."
"The decision was in response to a similar move by the United States. On Jan. 5, a U.S. rule takes effect across 115 U.S. airports that will require most visiting tourists, including those from Brazil, to have their photographs and fingerprints logged digitally as they clear immigration procedures."
"Brazil's reaction is one more sign of deteriorating relations between the United States and Latin America's most populous nation."
"Brazil, a country of 170 million, traditionally has enjoyed warm relations with the United States. But President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva harshly criticized the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the Brazilian media recently have taken a more hostile view of the United States."
"In September, Brazil led a revolt by developing nations that caused U.S.-led global trade talks to collapse." 1-04
- 01-05-04 Supreme Court to Rule on Government Imprisonment Policies (CBS News)
"The Supreme Court will announce this month whether it will broaden a review of the Bush administration's imprisonment of terror suspects."
"The court already overrode the objections of the administration in November to take an appeal that asks whether foreigners held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may contest their captivity in American courts." 1-04
- 01-12-04 Database to Color-Code Air Passengers for Intensive Screening (CBS News)
"Precautions in the name of air security are about to taken to a level unimaginable in the United States only a few years ago."
The Washington Post reports the Bush administration is expected to order as soon as next month the first step in setting up databases on all air passengers, to be used to color-code each air traveler according to his or her potential threat level." 1-04
- 01-12-04 U.S. Supreme Court: Names of Detainees Can be Kept Secret (Bloomberg.com)
"The Bush administration can continue withholding the names of more than 750 people arrested following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by civil liberties groups."
"The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations said the `unprecedented secrecy' harmed efforts to learn whether the arrests were justified or the detainees were mistreated. A federal appeals court upheld the government's argument that releasing the names would interfere with the terrorism investigation." 1-04
- 01-26-03 Total Information Awareness Defeated (Bennington Banner)
"Last week, the U.S. Senate defended the Bill of Rights, the separation of powers and the rights of citizens to conduct their affairs with a modicum of privacy by reining in the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness program. This is the proposed high-tech domestic spying apparatus that would have opened the e-mail and computerized records of every American to review by military intelligence."
"The Wyden amendment is a victory for privacy rights over the encroachment of the national security apparatus, and a hopeful sign that the Congress takes seriously its responsibility to oversee the executive branch, which, in its zeal to combat terrorism has been threatening the rights of citizens." 1-03
- 01-29-04 Bush Opposes Restrictions on the Patriot Act (CBS News)
"The Bush administration issued a veto threat Thursday against legislation introduced in Congress that would scale back key parts of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act." 1-04
- 02-13-04 Rumsfeld: Gitmo Detainees to be Allowed Appeal (CBS News)
"Suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will be allowed to appeal their detentions to a new panel that would determine if they are an ongoing threat to the United States, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday."
"About 660 alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are being held at the maximum-security prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, though none has been charged."
Human rights groups and some foreign governments have criticized the detainees' treatment and the lack of trials or access to lawyers."
The Supreme Court will decide this year whether the Guantanamo detainees can be held indefinitely without lawyers and hearings. The Court announced in November that it would consider appeals on behalf of Guantanamo inmates." 2-04
- 05-02-03 Increase in Domestic Spying Powers Requested (CBS News - Reynolds)
"The FBI now has primary responsibility for domestic intelligence operations, and at present, the CIA and Defense Department must go to the FBI to request a 'national security letter' to get access to financial and electronic records."
"The administration feels that giving the CIA and military direct authority to demand the records would cut down on the time needed for investigations and provide more flexibility in the war against terrorism, according to a senior Congressional official."
"Administration officials said the proposal would not give the CIA and DOD access to any information they cannot already get through the FBI, while an American Civil Liberties Union official called the proposal 'dangerous and un-American.' "
"Democrats and civil liberties advocates say the FBI is subject to guidelines and judicial oversight that would not apply to the CIA and Department of Defense." 5-03
- 05-28-03 Amnesty International Asserts U.S. Violates International Law (CBS News)
"The effects of the U.S.-led war on terror have been far-reaching, Amnesty said in a statement." "Far from making the world a safer place, [the war] has made it more dangerous by curtailing human rights, undermining the rule of international law and shielding governments from scrutiny. It has deepened divisions among people of different faiths and origins, sowing the seeds for more conflict," the statement said."
"In a separate press conference Wednesday, William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said U.S.-led events of 2003 generated deleterious effects."
"The war on Iraq provided an excuse for other countries "in the name of anti-terrorism or in the name of national security" to crack down on opponents of their regimes, he said."
"Schulz said the Iraqi war was a 'distraction of the world's attention from horrific human rights abuses elsewhere,' and gave ammunition to countries that circumvent the United Nations and 'use the excuse the United States itself does not respect international law.' " 5-03
- 07-14-03 U.S. Justice Department Defies Judge (MSNBC News)
"The Justice Department on Monday refused to produce an al-Qaida prisoner for questioning by terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui, an extraordinary defiance of a judge’s order that could trigger legal punishments." 7-03
- 07-23-02 USA to Block Torture Vote (ABC News - al-Kashif)
"Fearing independent visits to U.S. prisons and to terror suspects on Guantanamo, the United States is planning to block a U.N. vote on a plan to enforce an international convention on torture, U.S. diplomats and human rights campaigners said Tuesday."
- 08-02-02 Judge Orders US Government to Identify Detainees (MSNBC)
"A federal judge gave the government 15 days Friday to disclose the names of people detained in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The government was expected to seek a stay of the order pending an appeal." 7-02
- 08-09-02 Combatants Should Get Counsel According to the ABA (Bloomberg.com - Rowley)
"U.S. citizens detained as enemy combatants during the war on terrorism have a right to a lawyer and to challenge their detention in court, an American Bar Association task force said."
" 'United States citizens who are detained by the government have a right under the Constitution to seek release from their detention,' the panel said. Access to the courts to challenge detention is 'a fundamental right which Congress has not suspended.' "
- 08-21-02 Lawmakers Say Oversight is Blocked (Washington Post - Eggen)
"Lawmakers on the House and Senate judiciary committees are complaining that Attorney General John D. Ashcroft is blocking attempts to review Justice Department counterterrorism policies, setting the stage for another round of clashes between the Bush administration and Congress."
- 09-15-03 Terror Laws Used Against Common Crimes (CBS News)
"In the two years since law enforcement agencies gained fresh powers to help them track down and punish terrorists, police and prosecutors have increasingly turned the force of the new laws not on al Qaeda cells but on people charged with common crimes."
"A North Carolina county prosecutor charged a man accused of running a methamphetamine lab with breaking a new state law barring the manufacture of chemical weapons. If convicted, Martin Dwayne Miller could get 12 years to life in prison for a crime that usually brings about six months."
"Civil liberties and legal defense groups are bothered by the string of cases, and say the government soon will be routinely using harsh anti-terrorism laws against run-of-the-mill lawbreakers."
"The law, passed two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, erased many restrictions that had barred the government from spying on its citizens, granting agents new powers to use wiretaps, conduct electronic and computer eavesdropping and access private financial data."
"More than 150 local governments have passed resolutions opposing the law as an overly broad threat to constitutional rights." 9-03
- 09-17-03 Americans Fear Loss of Civil Liberties (CBS News)
"It is nearly two years since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, and while most Americans still believe another attack in the U.S. is likely in the near future, this feeling is the lowest it has been since before the war with Iraq."
"But another worry is on the rise: most Americans are at least somewhat concerned that the anti-terrorism measures enacted by the Bush Administration will cost them some of their civil liberties." 9-03
- 11-10-03 Supreme Court to Rule on Guantanamo Prisoners (BBC News)
"The US Supreme Court is to hear appeals by Afghan war detainees at the US military's Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba." 11-03
- 11-18-01 Rights - New Executive Actions Restrict Rights (Christian Science Monitor)
Describes changes by the Bush administration that restrict rights as part of efforts to catch terrorists. Discusses the lack of response from Congress on the rectriction of civil liberties. 11-01
- 11-22-03 FBI Investigating Anti-War Activists (ABC News)
" 'The extent of the scrutiny is that any time there is a large gathering of people ... there is a potential for an act of terrorism,' [FBI spokesman] Carter said."
"But civil rights groups and legal scholars told the Times that the monitoring program could signal a return to the abuses of the 1960s and 1970s, when J. Edgar Hoover was the FBI's director and agents routinely spied on political protesters including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
"Abuses by Hoover and others at the time led to restrictions on FBI investigations of political activities -- restrictions that were relaxed significantly last year when Attorney General John Ashcroft, citing the Sept. 11 attacks, issued guidelines giving agents authority to attend political rallies, mosques and any other public event." 11-03
- 12-13-03 Secret Intelligence Courts Can Now Be Used (CBS News)
"The FBI has implemented new ground rules that 'fundamentally alter the way investigators handle counterterrorism cases, allowing criminal and intelligence agents to work side by side and giving both broad access to the tools of intelligence gathering for the first time in decades,' The Washington Post says in its Saturday editions."
"The result is that the FBI, unhindered by the restrictions of the past, 'will conduct many more searches and wiretaps that are subject to oversight by a secret intelligence court rather than regular criminal courts,' officials told the Post." 12-03
- 12-18-03 Court: President Cannot Detain U.S. Citizen as Enemy Combatant (CNN News)
"The government never levied criminal charges against Padilla before President Bush declared in June 2002 that he represented a 'grave danger to the national security' of the nation, reclassifying him as an enemy combatant, and transferring him to military custody, where he has remained incommunicado."
" 'As this court sits only a short distance from where the World Trade Center stood, we are as keenly aware as anyone of the threat al Qaeda poses to our country and of the responsibilities the president and law enforcement officials bear for protecting the nation,' the court said in its majority opinion."
" 'But presidential authority does not exist in a vacuum, and this case involves not whether those responsibilities should be aggressively pursued, but whether the president is obligated, in the circumstances presented here, to share them with Congress,' it added." 12-03
- 12-29-03 Airports to Fingerprint International Visitors (CNN News)
"Foreigners entering U.S. airports and seaports -- except those from Western Europe and a handful of other countries -- will soon have their fingerprints scanned and their photographs snapped as part of a new program designed to enhance border security." 12-03
- 12-30-30 Special Prosecutor Named in CIA Leak Case (Bloomberg.com)
"The Bush administration named a U.S. attorney from Chicago as a special prosecutor to uncover who leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative to the news media as Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself from the case." 12-03
- Review of the USA Patriot Act (USAToday.com - Johnson and Locy)
"Fewer than 50 people had been detained by U.S. authorities as material witnesses as of January in the terrorism probe that began after the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks, the Justice Department reported Tuesday." 5-03
Papers
- 1-8-03 Court Upholds Government's Right to Hold U.S. Citizens (MSNBC)
"A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the government could hold U.S. citizens as enemy combatants during wartime without the constitutional protections afforded Americans in criminal prosecutions." 1-03
- Attorney-Client Confidentiality Suspended by Ashcroft (Miami Herald - Lardner)
Describes new rule by Attorney General John Ashcroft that allows eavesdropping on conversations between attorneys and clients if Ashcroft believes that terrorism may be involved. 11-01
- British View of Liberties vs. Security (Guardian Unlimited - Mano and Wilcox)
Provides short responses from specialists in the issue of reconciling civil liberties and security. 11-01
- CIA's License to Kill (CBS News)
"American citizens working for al Qaeda overseas can legally be targeted and killed by the CIA under President Bush's rules for the war on terrorism, U.S. officials say." Human rights groups are divided on the legality of the policy. 12-02
- Civil Liberties Advocacy (ACLU)
Describes issues that the ACLU considers violations of civil liberties, especially in the pursuit of security after the terrorist attacks. 11-01
- Civil Liberties and War - Timeline for the USA (PBS.org - NOW)
Provides a history of legislation in the USA that affects civil liberties during a time of war. 2-03
- Courts Struggle to Strike a Balance on Personal Liberties (MSNBC - Lane)
"Thus, the skeptics argue, it [terrorism] can be fought largely with the conventional tools of civilian law enforcement, wielded by an executive branch overseen and constrained by the courts and Congress — especially since the indefinite duration of the war could mean restrictions on liberty, once in place, could be perpetuated forever."
'" 'The sacrifice of checks and balances has to be weighed not as a temporary expedient,' said Laurence H. Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, “ 'but assessed as a proposed permanent change.' ” 8-02
- Debate on the Treatment of Detainees in Cuba (BBC News)
Provides two opposing views on whether those detained by the United States from the conflict in Afghanistan should be treated as prisoners of war. As prisoners of war, the detainess are entitled to rights that USA government officials say do not apply. 2-02
- Detainees Winning Court Battles on Secrecy on Immigrant Detainees (Bloomberg.com)
Summarizes court cases involving the government's position that information on immigrant detainees, including who they are or what they are alleged to have done, is secret information. 5-02
- Editorial - Civil Rights and Dirty Bombs (International Herald Tribune)
Argues that terrorism should be fought without suspending the civil rights of Americans. 6-02
- Editorial - Patriotism and Freedom (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Discusses the difficulty of balancing security and freedom. 12-01
- Editorial - U.S. Detainees Need to be Tried (Guardian Unlimited)
Argues that the USA should follow international law in dealing with detainees captured during the conflict in Afghanistan. (The Guardian is a British newspaper.) 2-02
- Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights )
States how prisoners of war must be treated and includes 143 articles. For example, "Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria." 1-02
- Government Secrecy in Terror Cases (ABC News)
"A federal appeals court is considering a judge's order to open the immigration hearings of scores of people rounded up in Sept. 11 investigations, unless the government can make a case-by-case showing for secrecy — something the Justice Department says will threaten national security." 9-02
- Human Rights and the War on Terrorism - An Interview With Saad Eddin Ibrahim (World Press Review - El Amrani)
Provides the views of an Egyptian human rights activist. 2-02
- Liberties vs. Security Debate (ACLU)
Provides a review of the new USA Patriot Act to combat terrrorism in terms of losses of civil rights. 11-01
- Liberties vs. Security Debate (Washington Post - Pianin and Edsall)
Provides a discussion of the debate in Congress on reductions of civil liberties to improve security against terrorism. 11-01
- Limits on Gun Records Proposed (CBS News)
Describes a proposal by Attorney General John Ashcroft to limit the amount of time that quick check records can be kept to determine if a person is eligible to purchase a gun. The proposal would implement an action that Ashcroft proposed as a Senator to amend the Brady bill. (His amendment was defeated in the Senate.) Ashcroft also proposed procedures to make the instant background checks more complete. Provides statistics on the effects of the Brady bill. 6-01.
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects (CNN - Wallace)
President Bush signed a rule allowing the government to provide a military trial for terrorist suspects instead of a civilian trial. 11-01.
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects - Against (Time.com)
Discusses concerns by conservatives and liberals that President Bush will compromise American values in the USA and abroad if he uses military tribunals to try suspects of terrorism. "The proceedings, whose exact rules will be set on a case-by-case basis by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, can be secret. They may take place in the U.S. or abroad. Hearsay can be used as evidence. The defendant has neither the absolute right to challenge the evidence against him nor the right to hear it. He may not have access to the lawyer of his choice. Guilt need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The verdict need not be unanimous. Executions are allowed. There may not be provision for appeal. Legally, at least, the terrorists have their wish." 11-01
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects - Against (Wall Street Journal - Levy)
Argues against the use of President Bush's type of military tribunals in the current situation. "Astonishingly, the only rule that Mr. Bush's executive order lays out with specificity is that the accused can be convicted and sentenced--to life in prison or death--if two-thirds of the panel agree. Even military courts, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, require unanimity in capital cases and provide for several stages of appellate review." 11-01
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects - For (FindLaw - Dean)
Argues for the use of military tribunals for persons accused of harboring terrorists or involvement with a terrorist organization. Also argues that the procedure should be revised so that the death penalty can only be used with unanimous decisions. 9-01
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects - For (USAToday.com - Ingraham)
Defends the secrecy of military tribunals as a way of protecting American securitiy. "Much of the anti-military-tribunal howl centers on the fact that the proceedings are held in secret. However, it is eminently reasonable to think that as we pursue our war against terror, the public prosecution of individuals who are part of a worldwide conspiracy to murder as many Americans as possible would be harmful to a wide variety of U.S. interests. Classified information whose secrecy is critical to future U.S. investigations could be compromised -- such as the identity of double agents, specifics of other terrorist plots and the details of the covert techniques used by our government to prevent them." "Whatever damage military tribunals do to our international reputation, we risk far greater damage to our national psyche if non-citizen terrorists are allowed to exploit our system and our national pain in prolonged and costly courtroom dramas." 11-01
- Military Tribunals for Terrorist Suspects - For (Washington Post - Allen)
Provides President Bush's arguments for the use of military tribunals for trying suspected terrorists or those who harbor them. 'It's our national interests, it's our national security interests that we have a military tribunal available. It is in the interests of the safety of potential jurors that we have a military tribunal.' 'As the president, he [Bush] can take into account all the considerations -- from diplomatic to military to law enforcement to intelligence -- about whether this is the proper method of adjudicating justice.' 11-01
- New Video Spying Technology for the Military (CBS News - Sniffen)
"DARPA described a hypothetical terrorist shooting at a bus stop and a hypothetical bombing at a disco one month apart in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a city with slightly more residents than Miami."
CTS should be able to track the day's movements for every vehicle that passed each scene in the hour before the attack, DARPA said. Even if there were 2,000 such vehicles and none showed up twice, the software should automatically compare their routes and find vehicles with common starting and stopping points."
"Joseph Onek of the Open Society Institute, a human rights group, said current law that permits the use of cameras in public areas may have to be revised to address the privacy implications of these new technologies."
" 'It's one thing to say that if someone is in the street he knows that at any single moment someone can see him,' Onek said. 'It's another thing to record a whole life so you can see anywhere someone has been in public for 10 years.' " 7-03
- No Longer a Suspect, Still a Detainee (Washington Post - Goldstein)
Provides the story of Tony Oulai from the Ivory Coast. 5-02
- Palestinian Man Held for Three Years on Secret Evidence (ABC News)
Describes the treatment of a Palestinian, who has lived in the USA for 20 years, alleged to be involved with a terrorist organization. 11-01.
- Patriot Act of 2003 and Civil Rights (PBS - Moyers and Lewis)
"The Patriot Act was passed six weeks after 9/11. We know now that it greatly changed the balance between liberty and security in this nation's framework. What do you think — what's the significance of this new document, called the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003?" 2-04
- Poll - Americans Not Worried About Restrictions of Rights (WashingtonPost.com - Morin and Deane)
Reports the results of a study to determine reactions to new policies designed to combat terrorism, but which also restrict rights. The study found that most Americans approve of the new Bush administration policies. 11-01
- Poll - Civil Rights and Security (CBS News)
Provides the results of a CBS News poll on whether Americans are more worried about a loss of civil rights or a failure of the federal government to provide adequate security. The poll also asked many other questions related to the effectiveness and popularity of the Bush administration. 12-01
- Poll Shows Support for Freedom of Speech Eroding (ABC News)
"Support for the First Amendment has eroded significantly since Sept. 11 and nearly half of Americans now think the constitutional amendment on free speech goes too far in the rights it guarantees, says a poll released Thursday." 8-02
- Proclamation in Support of Liberties While Pursuing Security (In Defense of Freedom)
Provides 10 statements of support for maintaining civil liberties while the U.S. government pursues national security. 3-02
- Profiling - Nations Object to Profiling (Guardian Unlimited)
Describes the complaints of 17 countries regarding discrimination against Arabians and others at security points at airports. 2-02
- Recommendations to Improve Homeland Security (Brookings Institute - Project on Homeland Security)
"To broaden and reorient the homeland security agenda, we propose a four-tier strategic framework. The four tiers are (1) perimeter defense of the country's borders, (2) preventive activities within the country, (3) protection of domestic sites, and (4) consequence management after attacks."
"The Bush administration's 2003 budget contains initiatives that are broadly similar to our first and final categories, but proposes a somewhat scattershot collection of individual programs and efforts within the second category of domestic prevention and the third category of domestic protection. We attempt to develop a more systematic and comprehensive agenda in those areas." 5-02
- Religious and Political Groups May Be Monitored (CBS News)
"Attorney General John Ashcroft warned Sunday that religious or political groups normally free from government intrusion could be monitored by agents if they are suspected of engaging in terrorism." 9-01
- Rights - Human Rights and Constitutional Law (Columbia Law School - McKeever and Rosenbaum)
Provides information on efforts to protect human rights by country, nationality, region, program, and other criteria.
- Secret Arrests - Hady Omar (CBS News - 60 Minutes)
"The government was able to hold Omar and hundreds of other Muslim detainees by charging them not as criminals but as visa violators. The law says criminals, even murderers, must be charged with a crime quickly – usually within 48 hours – or released."
Immigration laws used to work the same way, but after 9/11, the justice department rewrote the rules so that suspected visa violators could be held in jail as long as the government wants – without any charges filed against them."
"The government may believe that extraordinary circumstances equals extraordinary treatment. But Rubin believes this certainly doesn’t justify denying Omar access to legal counsel and his wife and child, who are both U.S. citizens." “ 'Any concern that the United States may have had about Omar being a security risk, a terrorist threat, could have been easily resolved in a number of hours, if not days, of humanized treatment -- not the kind of dehumanizing conditions that he was subject to,' says Rubin." "With the help of Rubin, and a legal team from the firm of Morrison and Foerster, Omar has filed a lawsuit against the government, claiming that his civil rights were violated and that his treatment could be characterized as torture." 4-03
- Secret Arrests - Mike Wahash (FreeMikeWahash.org)
"Mike Hawash is a U.S. citizen, and is being held without being charged with any crime." 4-03
- Secret Federal Court Rejects Justice Department's Request (MSNBC News)
"The secretive federal court that approves spying on terror suspects in the United States has refused to give the Justice Department broad new powers, saying the government had misused the law and misled the court dozens of times, according to an extraordinary legal ruling...." 8-02
- Total Information Awareness (DARPA)
"The goal of the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program is to revolutionize the ability of the United States to detect, classify and identify foreign terrorists – and decipher their plans – and thereby enable the U.S. to take timely action to successfully preempt and defeat terrorist acts."
- Total Information Awareness - Essay (Washington Post Editorial)
"Anyone who deliberately set out to invent a government program with the specific aim of terrifying the Orwell-reading public could hardly have improved on the Information Awareness Office."
"Adm. Poindexter's presence on this project, the lack of clear public information about it and the absence of any real oversight already indicate a serious lapse of judgment." 12-02
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