Civil Liberties, Extraordinary Rendition, Guantanamo, Habeas Corpus, Human Rights, Supreme Court, Targeting Muslims, Torture, Truth to Power
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Updates:
- Jose Padilla Is Sentenced to 17 Years – The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke marks another step in the extraordinary personal and legal odyssey for the 37-year-old Muslim convert, a U.S. citizen who was held for 3 years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest amid the “dirty bomb” allegations. He had faced up to life in prison.
- Canada Puts U.S. and Israel on Torture Watch List: Not For Long The document cites the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay and lists U.S. interrogation techniques including “forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation.†Other countries on the list include Israel, Syria, China, Iran and Afghanistan. Canada’s regret to include US and Israel on a list of states where prisoners are at risk of torture.
Gaza Siege Crisis Deepens
Israel has ordered closure of all crossings into the Gaza Strip. All goods continue to be blocked, including humanitarian supplies from the UN. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees condemned the move, saying it will only worsen an already dire situation. Israel says its trying to thwart rocket attacks on the nearby Israeli town of Sderot.
Guest – Muna Coobtee, Muna is with the Free Palestine Alliance, and the Answer Coalition in Los Angeles.
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Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties and Commons For All
Magna Carta Manifesto is the title of Peter Linebaugh’s new book. In it he provides a sweeping history of the Magna Carta. Originally issued in 1215, the Magna Carta was the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today. One review reads, ” the book shines a fierce light on the current state of liberty and shows how longstanding restraints against tyranny such as the rights of habeas corpus, trial by jury and the prohibition of torture are being abridged.”
Guest – Author Peter Linebaugh, University of Toledo professor and also author of many books and the article, “The Secret History of the Magna Carta.â€
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Co-host Michael Ratner’s response to Canada’s Foreign Minister apologising for including the US and Israel on a list of states where prisoners are at risk of torture. Real News.
Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, Truth to Power
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Drug Policy: US Legislation Reform and International Models
Here on Law and Disorder we’ve had a number of guests examine drug policies and the connection to prison populations in the United States. Kevin Zeese talks with hosts about drug policy and subsequent connections with prisons. He also analyzes international drug policy models that work to keep crime statistics down, especially in Sweden.
Guest – Kevin Zeese. Kevin is a National Lawyers Guild member, he ran for the US Senate position in Maryland and is currently the president of Common Sense For Drug Policy. Kevin also writes for the newsletter CounterPunch, he’s been published in The Washington Post, Common Dreams, and AlterNet.
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Court Overturns $156 Million Judgement. Judge: Evidence Must Tie Terrorism To Attack
Federal anti-terrorism laws allow US citizens to sue for civil damages. In the first of its kind, a federal appeals court tossed out a multi-million dollar judgement that had been awarded to the family of an American teenager killed in a 1996 terrorist attack in the West Bank. The judge’s decision took into account errors in the case and the failure of the lawyers for the Boim family to present credible evidence that Hamas was responsible for the attack.
Guest – Chicago based attorney Matt Piers, with the firm Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick & Dym, Ltd.
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Bricks in the Wall: How a U.S. Police State Is Being Built
We hear a speech by activist Clark Kissinger who spoke at the Brecht Forum. The event examined the near completion since 9/11 of the infrastructure for a police state in the US, including its legal and ideological apparatus. Co-host Michael Steven Smith and Vince Warren Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. were also among the speakers.
Civil Liberties, Extraordinary Rendition, Guantanamo, Habeas Corpus, Human Rights, Iraq War, Military Tribunal, Supreme Court, Targeting Muslims, Torture, Truth to Power
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World Marks GTMO’s Sixth Year
January 11th marks six years of imprisonment for the more than 300 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Last year on Law and Disorder we had taken listeners through a brief history of the Guantanamo Bay Prison, how they got there and what it means for civil liberties in the United States. We continue to examine the civil liberties issues and we’ll look at how attorneys and activists are involved in getting prisoners released.
- Hosts Update: Settlement on Use of Central Park’s Great Lawn – Congratulations to NLG members Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo in this important victory for the First Amendment in NYC! In addition to rescinding the rule limiting public events on the Great Lawn, the National Council of Arab Americans and ANSWER will each receive $25K and the City will reimburse $500,000 in attorneys costs and fees.
- Hosts remember Philip Agee, the former Central Intelligence Agency officer who turned against the agency and spent years exposing undercover American spies overseas, passed away at his home in Havana last week.
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Amnesty International Leading Worldwide Rallies and Demonstrations
Many organizations and activists are staging powerful demonstrations this week protesting the sixth anniversary of the US detention camp at Guantánamo Bay and demanding the release of the men held there. Protesters will again don masks and the trademark orange suits associated with the prisoners and shuffle through public spaces.
Guest – Jumana Musa a human rights attorney and activist. She is currently the Advocacy Director for Domestic Human Rights and International Justice at Amnesty International, where she addresses the domestic and international impact of the Bush administration’s “war on terror” on human rights. She has also served as Amnesty International’s legal observer at military commission proceedings at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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Efforts to Release Yemen Prisoners From Guantanamo
Though this sixth anniversary is a day of acknowledgment of the illegal imprisonment and torture of prisoners in Guantanamo, it also a call on governments across the world to lobby for the release of their residents. About 100 Yemenis are being held at Guantanamo, making them the biggest group among the approximately 275 detainees there, according to Yemen’s media.
A conference held in Yemen this week is aiming to secure the release of more Yemeni prisoners from Guantanamo. The conference is encouraging a wide coalition of religious leaders, NGOs and family members of prisoners to press for the release of the men. Since 2002, 12 Yemeni prisoners have been released from Guantanamo Bay prison. More than a third of Guantanamo prisoners are from Yemen. Yemen is on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North and the Red Sea to the West.
Guest – Pardiss Kebriaei, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. She specializes in international litigation, working within the Inter-American, European and UN human rights systems, and in foreign jurisdictions including the Philippines, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Colombia.
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Washington DC Protests and Demonstrations. More than 80 Arrested.
Accounts of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment have been condemned by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other reputable bodies. The Center for Constitutional Rights has led the effort to get Guantanamo closed down and get prisoners the rights they’re entitled under International Law and the U.S. Constitution.
Guest – Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights was at one the many demonstrations in Washington DC. He spent seven years as national senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where he led national constitutional and impact litigation to advance civil rights and civil liberties.
Civil Liberties, Guantanamo, Human Rights, Iraq War, Targeting Muslims, Torture, Truth to Power
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This week Law and Disorder hosts update on Guantanamo Bay demonstrations, assess the violence and death amid the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and acknowledge the 49th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Hosts also find out where our own Dalia Hashad has been for the last few months.
Witness Against Torture – This year, Witness Against Torture will be working with many groups on a demonstration in Washington, D.C. The day will begin with a rally at the National Mall co-sponsored with Amnesty International and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture followed by a “prisoner procession†to the Supreme Court. Endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, CodePink, International Federation for Human Rights, Network of Spiritual Progressives, Peace Action, School of the Americas Watch, Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, United for Peace and Justice, War Resisters League, and other groups.
Iraq Death Toll – 2007 Sees the Worst Bombings Ever. Iraqi Death Toll Exceeds 600 Thousand Study Estimates – WSJ 2006
49th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution
Co-hosts Michael Ratner and Michael Smith discuss the 49th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. We also hear the next 2 speeches from the Brecht Forum event, Who Killed Che’. Author and historian Jane Franklin and attorney/civil rights activist Len Weinglass deliver compelling talks on Cuba’s history, a background on the Cuban Five and accounts from the quiet US war.
Co-host Michael Ratner discusses presidential candidates views on torture and “soft facism.”