A recent letter in support of an ACLU campaign to reverse the loss of habeas corpus & other rights stripped by last year’s Military Commissions Act.
Dear Senator Durbin:
Dear Senator Obama:
As your constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor Senator Dodd’s, “Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act,” to restore key rights of due process stripped by last year’s Military Commissions Act.
I believe that the rights enshrined in the Constitution are universal human rights, not limited to those fortunate enough to be U.S. citizens. The Military Commissions Act removed the Constitution’s due process right of habeas corpus for persons the President designates unlawful enemy combatants and also undermines the U.S. international obligations in the Geneva Conventions.
Senator Dodd’s bill begins to repair the damage done to our Constitutional rights and American values by the Military Commissions Act. The Dodd bill restores habeas corpus due process to detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. It defines an enemy of this nation as a person actually fighting our country. It bans the use of torture and abuse and makes clear that the federal government must comply with the Geneva Conventions and that prisoner’s are treated equitably regardless of rank.
While I believe we must have an aggressive and comprehensive policy to combat terrorism, we cannot do so at the expense of the liberties which make this a nation worth defending. Nearly 400 men have been held indefinitely and without charge at Guantanamo Bay for as long as five years. Even the government has admitted that more than 100 of them shouldn’t have been imprisoned and that no more than a few dozen will ever be charged. Please support the Dodd bill to ensure this travesty of justice does not continue.