On December 10, we celebrate the 55th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. These thirty articles identify rights to which all human beings are entitled. (See the UDHR at the UN website http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)

This year we would like to briefly focus on the human rights violations that sprung from US Homeland Security efforts and the Patriot Act. Under these banners, the US has violated at least 16 of the 30 articles contained within the UDHR since 9-11-01.

BACKGROUND
Just a short time after 9-11, the Department of Justice began to round up suspects. In just over one year, over 87,000 people were interrogated, all of them Arabs. Of these, at least 1,200 were detained, many without charges. They were declared to be “material witnesses” for a trial that never took place. The names of these detainees were not released. They were not allowed any  communications with those on the outside, and were moved frequently. This effectively stifled  their right to legal counsel and prevented them from filing suite against the government for their illegal detention.

It was not until months later that they were charged. Only one of these 1,200 was charged with terrorist related action. Most were deported on immigration technicalities. Their trials were held in secret, the public and their families were not allowed to attend. A Department of Justice investigation stated that “hundreds of illegal immigrants had been mistreated after they were detained....Inmates languished in unduly harsh conditions.”

In the latter part of 2001, the US constructed Camp XRAY in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, primarily to hold many of the POWs captured in Afghanistan, some of whom are under the age of 16. The US labeled these prisoners “enemy combatants” to avoid following international guidelines for the treatment of POWs, such as the Geneva convention. The New York Times reported that the US uses torture in Camp XRAY as well as exports prisoners to countries with poor human rights records to be tortured. For the most part, the men at Camp XRAY live in rows of individual, cage-like metal cells measuring 6 feet 8 inches by 8 feet, with the lights kept on 24 hours a day. The cells have no heating or air conditioning but are open to the air through tightly woven screens. The living conditions at the camp are so harsh there have been over 32 suicide attempts.

The PATRIOT Act allows, if not condones, these measures. It also allows unwarranted search, seizure, surveillance, and arrest. It legalizes racial profiling. It destroys transparency in our legal system. In short it upsets the fragile protections for minorities in a democratic society and erodes everyone’s civil rights.

LEGISLATION
Parts of the Patriot Act are set to expire in 2005, but there is much legislation that wishes to extend and expand the act.  The VICTORY Act makes drug possession a terrorist offence, and increases the governments wiretap and subpoena powers. Thankfully, there are several pieces of legislation focused upon repealing parts of the Patriot Act. For an extensive list of those both pro and con, visit the Bill of Rights Defense Committee at http://www.bordc.org/index.html.

ACTIONS
Call, FAX, Email the president, your senators and representative urging them to address these issues and eliminate these human rights violations (see Sample Letter below). We recommend a FAX or Call because emails are often ignored and letters take several weeks to arrive due to lengthy security screening methods following the Anthrax scare.

1. You may call your Senators and Representative by dialing the congressional switchboard (202- 224-3121) and ask for them by name.
2. For other detailed contact information go to http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/.
3. Enter your zip code and you will be shown the photos of the President, your Senators and Congressperson.
4. Click on "info" under their photo to get their direct phone and FAX numbers.
5. If you decide to email, click on "email" under their photo and then click "Compose your own letter".
6. Past your letter or compose it on-screen
7. Follow the on -screen instructions to send your message.

SAMPLE LETTER
Dear
In honor of of Human Rights Day on December 10, I urge you to respect our civil liberties by cosponsoring bills that will revoke the Patriot Act and similar bills. (For congresspersons, use this sentence: Please, cosponsor the Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act (HR 3171) or an analogous bill.)

In the same spirit, I urge you to vote "no" on any bill which seeks to expand or extend any part of the Patriot Act. (For congressperson, use this sentence: Legislation such as HR 3040, the Pretrial Detention and Lifetime Supervision of Terrorist Act or the VICTORY act are dangers to our civil rights.)(For senators, use this sentence: The Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act (S.1604) authorizes the use of the death penalty for any act of terrorism that results in a death.)

I will be watching the votes on this issue.

Thank you for your support,

Sincerely,