Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
New Page 1The hosts of Law and Disorder would like to thank all listeners for their emails and feedback. This week we ask for your support of our program and WBAI 99.5 FM.
Our premium is the amazing book A Question of Torture – Author Al McCoy
A startling exposé of the CIA’s development and spread of psychological torture, from the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and beyond
In this revelatory account of the CIA’s secret, fifty-year effort to develop new forms of torture, historian Alfred W. McCoy uncovers the deep, disturbing roots of recent scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guant?namo. Far from aberrations, as the White House has claimed, A Question of Torture shows that these abuses are the product of a long-standing covert program of interrogation.
Developed at the cost of billions of dollars, the CIA’s method combined “sensory deprivation” and “self-inflicted pain” to create a revolutionary psychological approach—the first innovation in torture in centuries. The simple techniques—involving isolation, hooding, hours of standing, extremes of hot and cold, and manipulation of time—constitute an all-out assault on the victim’s senses, destroying the basis of personal identity. McCoy follows the years of research—which, he reveals, compromised universities and the U.S. Army—and the method’s dissemination, from Vietnam through Iran to Central America. He traces how after 9/11 torture became Washington’s weapon of choice in both the CIA’s global prisons and in “torture-friendly” countries to which detainees are dispatched. Finally McCoy argues that information extracted by coercion is worthless, making a case for the legal approach favored by the FBI.
Our other premium: 
Download/Listen to Spychips interview [10 MB]
Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move With RFID
Hosts speak with co-author Liz McIntyre about RFID chips (Radio Frequency IDentification) a technology that uses computer chips smaller than a grain of sand to track items from a distance, mainly for inventory.
But as Liz explains, plans and efforts are also being made NOW by global corporations and the U.S government to turn this advanced technology, these spychips, into a way to track our daily activities-and keep us all on Big Brother’s short leash.
Compiling massive amounts of research with firsthand knowledge, Spychips explains RFID technology and reveals the history and future of the master planners’ strategies to imbed these trackers on everything-from postage stamps to shoes to people themselves-and spy on Americans without our knowledge or consent. It also urgently encourages consumers to take action now-to protect their privacy and civil liberties before it’s too late.
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New Orleans 1973 to Guant?namo 2006
A discussion on torture at the hands of the United States government.
WHAT: New Yorkers Unite to Fight U.S. Torture from New Orleans to Abu Ghraib and Guant?namo
WHEN: March 3, 2006, 6:30 to 8:30 PM
WHERE: Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Ave. Room 9T
(1 block west of Broadway)
WHO: Gita Gutierrez, CCR attorney representing Guantànamo detainees
John Bowman and Harold Taylor, Black Panthers tortured by New Orleans Law Enforcement in 1973
Henry “Hank” Jones, CDHR
Wayne Thompson, CDHR
Dr. Ron Daniels, Institute of the Black World 21st Century
Michael Ratner, CCR President
Bill Goodman, CCR Legal Director
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The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has called on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to cancel its plans this April to provide Armenian Genocide deniers a national television audience.
Urge PBS Not to Give Air-Time to Genocide Deniers
New York Times Article
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Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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Updates:
- Over-reaching Executive Powers
- US Outsourcing Torture
- Bush Signing Statements
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Protesters turned their back on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at Georgetown Law School
Some protesters wore hoods, while nearly a third of the students at the event turned away as US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales attempted to justify illegal wiretapping inside the US by the NSA. Students held up a banner toward the Cspan cameras that read: “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither” — a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
Guest – David Cole, Law Professor at Georgetown University, was at the event. David Cole is also a cooperating attorney with CCR and frequently comments in the media about constitutional issues regarding the executive actions of the George W. Bush administration. He is the author of Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism.
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Bush War Crimes Commission – Opening Speech by CCR president and Law and Disorder co-host Michael Ratner. Michael Ratner delivers a powerful 20 minute speech as a call to action for EVERYONE in the United States and abroad to protest, demonstrate, disobey in the name of preserving a rapidly eroding constitutional democracy. Ratner also cites the many recent actions by the Bush adminstration as movements toward tyranny. We play the entire speech. You can also download it HERE.
Music – Phil Ochs – I Kill, Therefore I Am, Fela Kuti – Mistake
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Inside the Cages: Guantanamo – Get the Truth Behind the Headlines. Tuesday Jan. 31st – Read more . . .
Black World Forum – Feb.4th – Black State of Emergency – Hurricane Katrina – Institute of the Black World 21st Century. Read More . . .
Author, Joan Mellen Lecture Transcript – Read the transcript HERE of the lecture given by author Joan Mellen at the Ethical Cultural Society. Joan Mellen is the author of “A FAREWELL TO JUSTICE: JIM GARRISON, JFK’S ASSASSINATION, AND THE CASE THAT SHOULD HAVE CHANGED HISTORY.”
Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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Updates: Host Discussion on the case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild on the alleged illegal spying by the NSA. Along with other citizens and noncitizens in this country, attorneys at CCR have good reason to believe their private conversations may have also been monitored by the NSA.
The text of Al Gore’s Speech
Congressman Conyers Report
Transit Workers Strike NYC
Recently, negotiations between the TWU and the MTA have ended without a contract. Transit workers however, continue to work without a contract. Law and Disorder hosts follow up on the details of the transit strike and the Taylor Law.
Guest – Richard Levy – Labor Attorney for Union Local 1199
Guest – Marty Goodman- Transit Worker and Executive Dir. of TWU Board
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Student Hurricane Network – A new student network working to address legal issues in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Student Hurricane Network is a national association of law students and administrators dedicated to providing long-term assistance to communities in the aftermath of hurricane destruction.
Guest – Vanessa Spinazola
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We play excerpts of speeches from the Bush War Crimes Commission that were held this past weekend. We hear from Harry Belafonte, Michael Ratner, Ray McGovern and Scott Ritter.
Civil Liberties, Torture
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FBI Keeping Records On 100 Thousand People
Guest – Amir Sulaiman, Muslim of African decent born in America. Amir is a 26 year old, poet, writer, teacher, husband and father. He was afeatured poet on HBO Def Poetry Jam. The episode aired in August 2004. Within six days of the performance airing, four FBI agents came to his mother-in-law’s home in San Francisco.Though he lived in Atlanta, Georgia, the agents came looking for him there. They asked about his “anti-American” poetry.
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Torture in Chicago
Guest – Attorney Flint Taylor an attorney with the People’s Law Office in Chicago had exposed the torture in Chicago of 130 Black men, whose confessions were extorted, and who served prison sentences.
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Haymarket
The Alchemy Theatre Company of Manhattan, Inc. presents the New York premiere of “Haymarket” by Zayd Dohrn, Off Broadway at The Beckett Theatre. We talk with playwright Zayd Dohrn.
An excerpt from one review: On the evening of May 4, 1886, anarchist-socialist organizers called a meeting in the Haymarket Square in Chicago to demand an eight-hour day for the city’s workers. When police attempted to disperse the meeting, somebody in the crowd hurled an iron sphere filled with dynamite into the ranks of officers. The bomb exploded, the police opened fire into the crowd, and in the ensuing riot, seven policemen and several workers were killed. At the time, it was one of the most deadly acts of terrorism that had ever taken place on American soil. While the bomb-thrower was never caught, seven anarchist leaders were arrested and convicted of conspiracy. Five of them were hanged. Read full review here.
Guest – Playwright and activist Zayd Dohrn.
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Civil Liberties, Surveillance
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Updates:
- Graham Amendment and the McCain Amendment
- Intelligent Design Debate
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CFC – Combined Federal Campaign –
Small victory announcement – Government Asking Charities to Check Donors With Terrorist List Without Consent.
Guest – Chicago Attorney Gary A. Isaac -Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw
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Orleans Parish Prison Update – In legal papers filed late last week by the American Civil Liberties Union, 45 men and women formerly detained at Orleans Parish Prison recount disturbing details of being abandoned without food or water and abused by guards after Hurricane Katrina struck.
The ACLU said that the scores of testimonials it has obtained from prisoners contradict public statements made by Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman that the prisoners had food and water and that the evacuation went as planned.
Guest – Eric Balaban – staff counsel representing all prisoners in the Orleans Parrish prison in a longstanding class action lawsuit.
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Dr Rafil Dhafir Selectively Prosecuted Because of His Muslim Faith and Arab Descent
Guest – Barrie Gewanter – Executive director of the Central New York Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
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Civil Liberties, Surveillance
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More Surveillance Cameras For New York City
After the bombings in London, the pressure is on for cities in the United States cities to build up the semi-police state with more surveillance cameras. Surveillance technology has advanced from grainy black and white images to digital high res cameras with zoom. A baseball can be recognized from orbiting satellites. We talk with privacy activist and Manhattan’s surveillance camera tour guide Bill Brown.
Guest – Bill Brown, privacy activist and surveillance camera tour guide.
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NYPD Randomly Check Bags On Subway
About 4.5 million people use New York’s subway system every working day. With more than 450 subway stations on the network, it is unclear whether the searches of passengers with bags or backpacks can be any more than a token deterrent. Civil liberties groups have warned that random searches may be unconstitutional. If you submit to a search and police find contraband, you could be charged!
Guest – Bill Goodman, Legal Director with the Center for Constitutional Rights.
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Non-Citizen Detentions Upheld
We talk with attorney Jon Hafetz with the Ali-Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri legal team. Al-Marri is the other non-citizen rarely reported on who is being held incommunicado, indefinitely in a military prison without charges. He’s been in solitary confinement for more than 2 years, no access to reading material, except the Qur’an. He’s constantly harassed, abused and any medical treatment received is very poor.
Guest – Jon Hafetz with the Al-Marri Legal Team
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Shield Laws For Journalists
In light of the Karl Rove scandal, we take a look at how shield laws designed to protect reporters are contradictory and vary from state to state. As more and more newsgatherers work on the national stage — through television, books and the internet — the lack of a national newsgatherers privilege is more and more problematic. Without a national privilege, these newsgatherers are subject to different and contradictory standards, with little guidance as to which standard might apply in a particular case. Listen as our guest, Gene Policinski is divided about whether national shield laws should exist for journalists amid the current lapdog media climate.
Guest – Gene Policinski, Executive Director with the First Amendment Center
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