---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 01:52:11 -0500
From: Matthew Gaylor
To: Matthew Gaylor
Subject: Bush Order on Military Tribunals...
http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n111401b.html
Bush Order on Military Tribunals is Further Evidence
That Government is Abandoning Democracy's Checks and Balances
Statement of Laura W. Murphy, Director
ACLU Washington National Office
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union is deeply disturbed
by President Bush's executive order allowing special military
tribunals to try non-citizens charged with terrorism. The tribunals
would even reach non-citizens in the United States, including lawful
permanent residents.
To our knowledge, the move to establish a military tribunal when
Congress has not declared war is unprecedented.
We do not believe that the Administration has shown that the
constitutional jury trial system does not allow for the prosecution
of those accused of terrorist activities. Absent such a compelling
justification, the President's decision is further evidence that the
Administration is totally unwilling to abide by the checks and
balances that are so central to our democracy.
The use of military tribunals would apparently authorize secret
trials without a jury and without the requirement of a unanimous
verdict and would limit a defendant's opportunities to confront the
evidence against him and choose his own lawyer. What's worse, these
important legal protections would be removed in a situation where
defendants may very well be facing the death penalty.
It is difficult to understand how the Administration can justify the
use of a tribunal when the United States has successfully tried in
our courts non-citizens accused of terrorist acts, organized crime,
and others in situations where the safety of jurors and the
disclosure of government intelligence methods were at issue.
As the prosecutions of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers and
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh demonstrate, the government has
managed to protect the safety and identity of jurors while achieving
convictions in terrorism cases. And there is already a system
established to handle classified information in the course of a
trial; it is called the Classified Information Procedures Act. For
decades, CIPA has adequately balanced national security and due
process concerns. The government has made no showing that CIPA
procedures would not be adequate in these circumstances as well.
Further, it would be hypocritical of the United States to impose such
a tribunal when we have repeatedly protested the use of such courts
against U.S. citizens abroad.
Congress has already given the Administration and the Justice
Department virtually everything they asked for to fight terrorism.
This latest move, combined with the Justice Department's announced
intentions to eavesdrop on attorney conversations with inmates and to
begin interviewing foreign visitors to the United States,
demonstrates the government's increasing willingness to circumvent
the requirements of the Bill of Rights.
We call on Congress to exercise its oversight powers before the Bill
of Rights in America is distorted beyond recognition.
Copyright 2001, The American Civil Liberties Union
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