Bush Order on Military Tribunals.

[Jei]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 01:52:11 -0500
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt at coil.com>
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt at coil.com>
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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