Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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Update:
- Hosts open with an update on the Zacarias Moussaoui case. Moussaoui is a French terrorist of Moroccan descent involved in the conspiracy that resulted in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 16, 2001 after attending a flight school in Eagan, Minnesota where an instructor expressed concerns about the abilities and motivations of his student. After the attacks unfolded, he was described as a possible “20th hijacker”, though he maintained that he was uninvolved with that plan up until pleading guilty in April 2005 to charges brought against him. He is the only person in the United States to have been charged in connection with the September 11 attacks.
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Patriot Act Renewal
By a vote of 280-138, the House of Representatives has agreed to renew the USA Patriot Act with only minor new safeguards for civil liberties and several troubling new items. The legislation was quickly signed by President Bush, a disturbing new reality awaits citizens and non-citizens in the United States.
Guest – Caroline Fredrickson – the ACLU’s Director of the Washington Legislative Office
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. . This New York City subway anti-terror campaign means basically, if you see something suspicious, tell an authority figure. It may seem like an effort to thwart planted bombs left in backpacks or bags in and around the subway, but some activists say it’s not useful in stopping terrorism, in fact, its a civilian psychological operation designed to instill fear as we become suspicious of one another. Joining us are two courageous New York City artists/activists, Laurie and Ann. They’ve taken the fear mongering MTA slogans and turned them into thought-provoking, anti-fear placards. Look out for these brilliant posters and postcards in and around the subway.
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Remembering Rachel Corrie – a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who traveled as an activist to the Gaza Strip during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. She was killed March 16, 2003 when she was hit and runover by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Caterpillar D9 bulldozer operating in a residential area of Rafah that the IDF had designated a security zone.
Law and Disorder Hosts talk with Rachel Corrie’s parents, Cindy and Craig about the cancellation of the play My Name is Rachel Corrie. This play is composed from Corrie’s journals and e-mails from Gaza and directed by British actor Alan Rickman, opened in London and ran until April 30, 2005. Following its success the play was to be transported to the New York Theatre Workshop. However, on February 27, 2006, it became clear the play was to be postponed indefinitely. Also in the discussion, an update on the Caterpillar Bulldozer lawsuit in which we’re joined by CCR attorney Maria LaHood. The lawsuit is against Caterpillar Inc. alleging liability over the death of Corrie and in connection with the equipment used in the home demolitions, which they say is a violation of international law.
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**We welcome our fourth host Dalia Hashad back to Law and Disorder. Dalia is now Amnesty International’s Director of the USA Program Focusing on Domestic Human Rights**
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.
Surveillance, Torture
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Updates:
- Hosts Michael Ratner and Heidi Boghosian discuss the political and constitutional fallout trailing behind the Graham/Levin Amendment.
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Lawfirm sues FEMA to keep Hurricane Katrina victims from being evicted from temporary hotels.
Guest – Danny Greenberg, special counsel for pro bono work at Schulte Roth & Zabel’s
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The International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration. January 20-22, 2006
Guest – Clark Kissenger, convener of the Bush Commission.
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Alito Hearings: Why did the Bush administration bypass the “rubber stamp” FISA court before wiretapping U.S. citizens?
Guest – Bill Goodman – Legal Director with the Center for Constitutional Rights
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Extraordinary Rendition, Guantanamo, Surveillance
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Council of Europe, Dick Marty Condemns Renditions
Dick Marty stressed that the aim of the Parliamentary Assembly, as the Council of Europe’s political/parliamentary organ, was to defend the values shared by the member states and combat terrorism resolutely and thoroughly, while however, complying with the fundamental principles of states founded on the rule of law and the observance of human rights.
Guest – John Sifton with Human Rights Watch
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Congressional officials want to investigate the disclosure that the NSA had gained access to main telephone arteries in parts of the U.S.
Guest – Lisa Graves, senior counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union says, “There’s no data-mining loophole in the Fourth Amendment.” Ms.Graves added, “We’re seeing an administration that’s engaging in a lot of legal hair-splitting to justify behavior that’s not authorized by the law.”
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Uigers – NW Chinese held at Guantanamo – They can’t be returned, yet the Pentagon has declared them “NLEC” meaning no longer enemy combatants. In fact it appears they never were enemy combatants to begin with — they were caught for the bounty. Now they are being held indefinitely and STILL being treated like prisoners strictly because the administration thinks that is the most convenient solution.
Guest – Sabin Willet – a partner with the law firm of Bingham McCutchen. He is the author of two previous novels, The Deal and The Betrayal.
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CAIR Files FOIA Request On Radiation Monitoring of Muslim Sites A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today announced the filing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all government records relating to a secret government program that monitored the radiation levels at more than 100 Muslim homes, businesses and mosques in the capital region and in other areas nationwide.
Guest – Arsalan Iftikar, the National Legal Director of CAIR
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