Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:38:55 -0500
Subject: [UNAC-CC] Fwd: Important CAIR-Columbus Action Alert
From: zainebalani@gmail.com
To: iraqisinexile@googlegroups.com; progressive_peace_coalition@lists.riseup.net; unac-cc@googlegroups.com
PLEASE WRITE OR CALL!
Salam: Brothers and Sisters,
We need each of you to call up the White House and urge President Obama to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.1540)Here is why: If this becomes law, it will turn back the clock up to eight hundred years on the basic right of each person to seek legal recourse before being locked up in jail, possibly forever. This law will allow the Government to detain, forever if they want to, any American citizen in America or in any corner of the World if he/she is suspected of terrorism, without allowing the citizen the right to challenge the Government in Court. This is an outrageous attack on rights which are guaranteed by the Constitution to all American citizens.Please see details below in the Action Alert for the number to call and what to say.Romin Iqbal,Staff Attorney,CAIR-Ohio
CAIR Action Alert: Ask President Obama to Veto Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens
On Monday, that House-Senate conference committee released a revised version of the bill that received House approval on Wednesday by a vote of 283 to 136. The bill is anticipated to get Senate approval by early next week and will most likely reach the president's desk for final approval or veto by the end of the month.Supporters of the legislation claim that it simply codifies existing presidential practices, such as indefinitely detaining American citizens suspected of terrorism. However, leading members of Congress and civil rights groups rallying against the bill assert that such presidential claims to detention powers are an overreach of executive authority and unconstitutional.Sections 1021 and 1022 of the bill authorize the president to order the indefinite detention of American citizens, inside or outside of the United States, suspected of being members of al-Qaida, the Taliban or their affiliates without charges, a trial or any legal recourse."If the Senate had wanted to make clear that a U.S. citizen could not be detained forever without charge, it could have said so unambiguously, but it did not. At best, we are shooting dice with our liberties and hoping that a federal court, down the line, will rule that it really does mean what the sponsors of this bill say it means," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution."This legislation authorizes the military to indefinitely detain individuals without charge or trial, including the detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. In short, what this bill does is it takes a wrecking ball to the United States Constitution and gives enormous power to the government or the state," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).In November, President Obama had threatened to veto an earlier draft of the bill due to mandates requiring the military custody, rather than civilian, of American citizens suspected of terrorism. However, after reviewing the revised bill, "the president's senior advisers will not recommend a veto," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney."This act is ambiguous, inconsistent, and clearly unconstitutional. It's an overreach of executive authority and would allow American citizens suspected of terrorism to be arrested without charge or trial and shipped off to Guantánamo Bay," saidCAIR Government Affairs Coordinator Robert McCaw. "It is imperative that we act now and urge President Obama to veto this bill. It's his sworn duty to uphold and defend the rights and freedoms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution."Talking points:
- Mr. President, I urge you to honor your original pledge and veto the National Defense Authorization Act as it sanctions the indefinite detention of American citizens without charge or trial.
- I believe that it is unconstitutional for the military to police or indefinitely hold American citizens without allowing them their constitutional rights to a fair and speedy trial and hearing the charges brought against them.
2. Inform your friends and family by forwarding this alert to at least five other people. Tell them you took action and ask them to do the same.CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
--
Zaineb Alani
http://www.thewordsthatcomeout.blogspot.com
http://www.tigresssmiles.blogspot.com
Congress is not preparing to defend the people of the United States. It is planning to protect the capital of American speculators and investors.... Incidentally this preparation will benefit the manufacturers of munitions and war machines.... Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought! Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder! Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings! Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction! Be heroes in an army of construction! --Helen Keller at Carnegie Hall January 5, 1916
No comments:
Post a Comment