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UW rights activists speak against U.S. military act
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by Logan Jaffe
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Several University of Wisconsin activists protested a military act Wednesday that allows the U.S. executive branch to imprison "unlawful enemy combatants" without a court hearing.
The Military Commissions Act signed in 2006 denies any individuals designated "unlawful enemy combatants" habeas corpus rights — which place the burden of proof on those detaining a person to justify the detention — and access to evidence held against them. The president of the United States can then determine which methods of torture are humane, and allow the use of evidence obtained through torture.
Wednesday’s protest was scheduled on the same date the act was passed one year ago.
Members of UW’s Amnesty International branch, a group that promotes human rights, gave speeches, signed petitions and visually demonstrated their opposition to the MCA in Library Mall. The group was joined by other UW student organizations like In Your Hands and the Muslim Students Association.
"[President Bush] could designate any of us as enemy combatants — all he has to do is say the word and we’re in jail," said Matthew Rothschild, Progressive Magazine editor. "We could be in jail for the rest of our lives and would never see a court or talk to a lawyer."
Amnesty International invited Rothschild to speak about his book "You Have No Rights," a series of stories on the decline of American civil liberties since Sept. 11, 2001. Rothschild also spoke at the Wisconsin Book Fair.
"This isn’t the America we learned about in first grade," Rothschild said. "We don’t have three branches of government anymore. The other two were sawed off. Bush and Cheney run this country and that’s it."
But State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said the government has the right to protect national security, and do "everything to protect and defend ourselves against terrorism."
"These are terrorists who want to do harm to our nation," Suder said. "We have to take precautions. We can’t let down our guard under auspices of individual liberties."
Four Amnesty International members wore bright orange work suits, similar to those worn by the prisoners of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Their mouths were duct-taped shut. The group made a jail cell, and one "prisoner" stood in it while others recited names of all Guantánamo detainees.
"This is getting attention and giving a good visual," said Abby Schmidmayr, Amnesty International state coordinator. "This allows for focus on an area the media doesn’t pay attention to."
Protesters also taped Guantánamo prisoners’ names on their jumpsuits to recognize their individuality as people.
UW senior Ellie Burnett’s jumpsuit displayed "Omar Deghayes" as she held a sign reading, "How would you feel if your name caused international security alerts?" Some read pieces from Marc Falkoff’s collection, "Poems from Guantánamo." One of the poems, not published in the collection, was obtained by Amnesty International from detainee Mohamed el Gharami’s lawyer.
"A few Amnesty branches are paired up with a Guantánamo detainee," said UW sophomore and Amnesty International student coordinator Sam Philipsek. "We write him letters like ‘hang in there,’ but it’s also very hard for him to actually get them."
UW’s Amnesty International Branch is paired with Gharami, and collected over 200 signatures in his name.
"Actions speak louder than words," UW senior Sarrah Abulughod said. "How would we feel if our citizens were in another country and tortured without a cause?"
According to UW junior Kara Bresnahan, one of three Amnesty International student coordinators, the group started planning more than a month ago.
"People must be exposed to this issue, and I feel like we’ve accomplished that goal," said UW graduate student Maha Hilal, chairperson of In Your Hands. "Most people should be shocked when they learn how our government takes rights away from others. I hope that it does bring them to action."
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 7:02am):
kinda stupid to want to give "American Rights" (ie habeus Corpus) to a group of people who are sworn to kill us because we exercise these rights as Americans. Of course such irony is usually lost when dealing with the stupidity of leftist rights organizations.
Let's see members of Al Qaeda hate us because of our supposed "American lifestyle" but now we have Morons who want to give to these people the same rights and priviledges they hate us for having????
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 7:27am):
In the meantime, there are radicals from around the world who are trying to attack America. Instead of making sure that we can keep America safe, we're worried that people working to destroy this country are getting enough sleep??? It's time to get realistic and realize that not everyone wants to hold hands and sing love songs about America.
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 11:25am):
Glad to see the misguided demonstrators with tape over their mouths. Keeps them from spewing their hate for the country that gives them the freedom to publicly display their collective idiocy.
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 2:55pm):
7:02am -- they don't hate us because we're "free" but because we are over there.
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 3:34pm):
I suggest you people do a little research about the Military Commissions Act, Guantanamo, and other facilities outside of the United States before you spit out your face value opinion that you know nothing about.
btw What does Al-Qaeda have to do with anything? Attack America? Haven't we been on "red alert" for the past 6 years? Hmm..
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 4:43pm):
anyone see that zawahiri held off a nyc cyanide attack in 03' because 'they had something better in mind?'
and yea, they do hate us simply for not being muslims...
Anonymous (October 18, 2007 @ 10:26pm):
If the people detained in Guantanamo by the U.S. are really terrorists, then whey not try them in a court of law? If the evidence being held against them is so clear cut, then why is the thought of giving them a trial so frightening? If American citizens were denied the right to a trial in another country, this would cause an uproar. Why do we not afford citizens of other countries these rights? The Military Commissions Act is preposterous and gives too much power to those who may easily abuse it. Further, for those who condone the use of torture to solicit information from detainees, they should perhaps consider the fact that many have spoken out against the ability for torture to elicit any truthful statements. Lastly, instead of people issuing blanket statements, perhaps they should become thoroughly educated about the issues.
Anonymous (October 19, 2007 @ 10:22am):
If you have such pride and faith in America, why not trust that it's systems of justice have enough integrity to punish the guilty and protect the innocent?
Its so easy to only see the problem: luckily our forefathers had the wherewithall to develop a systematic solution to those problems (its called rule of law).
The American values I believe in do not condone torture. Period. If yours do, then you've got bigger problems than a couple of student activists exercising their right to free speech.
Anonymous (October 19, 2007 @ 10:57am):
Most of you are so targeted against the terrorist you may not know that you can just as easily be placed on the list. Enemy combatant brings up the idea it is someone else. There are plenty of persons who speak out against Bush and are considered enemies of the state also. If you are designated as one, guess what you will be treated as one. The rights are secured by all, not just a select few. If you think you are above the actions of Bush you are either ignorant or just plain brain washed.
Kara Bresnahan (October 19, 2007 @ 4:35pm):
First of all, Amnesty International (AI) is not a "leftist" organization. AI is impartial which means that it does not criticize governments, but seeks to change or enact policies in the accordance with Universal Declaration of Human Rights. AI did not criticize our government for entering the war on Iraq; however, it does criticize the Military Commissions Act and the use of torture in Guantanamo Bay. Many of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are held without charge, tortured and denied a fair trial. The use of torture has been documented in Guantanamo Bay and the CIA also uses the Rendition Program to have detainees tortured in other countries. This directly violates the Geneva Conventions. The Military Commissions Act strips from all enemy combatants (any non-US citizen designated, without evidence being necessary, by the President) their writ of Habeas Corpus. This means that prisoners detained by the US can now be held without charge and have lost their right to a fair trail. This is in violation of International Humanitarian Law and also contradicts the US Constitution.
AI believes that no individual, regardless of race, religion or country of origin, should be tortured, held without charge or denied a fair trial. This is not to say that all detainees held at Guantanmo Bay are innocent of crime but, that they have a right to due process. AI urges the US government to uphold these rights to all individuals and to stop the use of torture as a means to coerce information. To force an individual to self-incriminate is in violation of the 5th Amendment of the US Constitution and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. According to Oliver Ravel, former deputy director of the FBI, torture is not effective: "people will even admit they killed their grandmother, just to stop the beatings." Also, torture results in severe physical and mental effects that forever change a survivor's life.
To those you think that our demonstration was in any way anti-American or radical, I urge you to look deeper into the issue. I realize that Matthew Rothschild made several comments that could easily be misconstrued as "un-American" when quoted improperly. Matthew was commenting on the effects of recent policy change in the US on our civil and human rights. When he said that he feels President Bush should be impeached, this was his personal opinion, and not shared by AI. With that said, Matthew Rothschild is an excellent speaker and made very strong arguments against the Military Commissions Act that were largely in accordance with AI beliefs.
I encourage anyone who would like to learn more about Amnesty International and the work that we do on campus to attend our meets on Wednesdays at 7:30 in Memorial Union (check TITU for the room) or visit the AIUSA website at amnestyusa.org.
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