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Don’t Let the President Legalize Torture
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The White House is currently pushing for a new law to allow torture of detainees in the “war on terror” — a law that would violate the Geneva Conventions and contradict our United States Constitution.
The proposed law would allow evidence to be withheld from defendants in terrorism trials, and severely restrict the fundamental right of habeas corpus. It would apply retroactively to 2001 — thus protecting Administration officals for illegal acts they may have committed. Most notably, it would allow the use of coerced testimony in military tribunals — even though this information has been shown not to be reliable.
Tell your Senators NOT to let the President legalize torture.
In contrast, Senators Graham, McCain and Warner have recently defied the White House and helped pass different legislation out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This bill has very significant flaws – but is a great deal better than the Administration’s proposal.
Their legislation would bar the U.S. military from engaging in “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual. These principles should be taken as a bare minimum for any detainee policy that Congress passes into law.
It’s vitally important that this administration not be allowed to wipe out our constitutional freedoms and protections under the guise of protecting us from terrorism. So take action today!
Want to increase your impact? Share this message with friends and family who are concerned about, or simply unaware of, the President’s new proposals to legalize torture.
Thank you for working to build a better world.
Will Easton
Manager, ActForChange.com
Working Assets
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, cynthia mckinney, reform, social & economic justice, To Study Up On Nonviolence, US Politics Tagged: | book of the month, Uncategorized
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