Wednesday, December 21, 2011

11-12-21 Indefinite military detentions in the United States // Indefinida detenciones militares en los Estados Unidos // 在美国军方无限期拘留

The issue is at the center of controversy in the United States, and President Obama first threatened to veto it.  That threat never materialized. The first ever US president, who had in his past served as US constitutional law university professor, signed into law a provision which effectively suspends Habeas Corpus, in direct contradiction with the US Constitution.

It should also be noted that already in 2010 the United Nations Human Rights Council called upon the United States to restore the right for Habeas Corpus, which was effectively suspended a few years earlier, through the erection of GITMO and other "black hole" CIA prisons around the world.
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2) Recent US media reports:a) NYT
December 15, 2011, 11:41 AM

The Sound of One President Caving

By ANDREW ROSENTHAL
For a while, the administration encouraged people to think that President Obama would take a stand against the unnecessary and very dangerous provisions that Congress jammed into the annual National Defense Authorization Act. He threatened to veto the whole bill in order to block new rules that would mandate the military custody of most terrorist suspects, and officially sanction their indefinite detention, without due process.
Yesterday, the president backed down, completely. The White House announced that he was satisfied with a slightly watered-down version of the bill that was approved by conferees from both houses and would sign it. (I’ve written about why the bill is a really, really bad idea here and here.)
...http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/the-sound-of-one-president-caving/#h[]

b) NYTDecember 15, 2011, 1:11 PM

More Rubble From the Military Detention Cave-In

By ANDREW ROSENTHAL
There are a few issues I didn’t get to in my previous post on the National Defense Authorization Act, which President Obama has indicated he’ll sign.
The first is whether certain provisions in the law give the president and the Pentagon the power to detain American citizens in a military facility, possibly for life, without a trial. Lawyers I talked to today said that the bill is pure mush in a lot of areas, including this one.

c) WasPostPosted at 11:00 AM ET, 12/20/2011

Occupy D.C.: 11 arrested while protesting National Defense Authorization Act

By Katie Rogers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/occupy-dc-11-arrested-while-protesting-national-defense-authorization-act/2011/12/20/gIQAbe966O_blog.html
[The NDAA is central to recent Occupy protests, including a hunger strike. -jz]

Emacs!
Protesters from the Occupy movement march in front of the White House on Dec. 7. (JONATHAN ERNST - REUTERS)

During a march in front of the White House on Monday night protesting the National Defense Authorization Act11 were arrested, including protesters from Occupy D.C.’s McPherson square encampment.

The $662 billion measure approved by both houses of Congress would significantly expand the military’s power to detain terrorism suspects indefinitely. The group was demanding President Obama veto the bill.

Protesters were arrested after getting “too close” to the White House gates, according to Occupy D.C.’s Twitter feed. A roundup of photos and tweets from the protest are after the jump.

Emacs!
Arrests coming at anti NDAA march at White House #occupydc #occupy #ows http://t.co/GoESNGx0

Emacs!
After arrests at White House NDAA protest (2) #NDAA #occupydc #ows http://t.co/xJwsD88Z

Emacs!

View Photo Gallery:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/occupy-dc-hunger-strikers-persevere/2011/12/16/gIQA9aNOzO_gallery.html
After a week without food, protesters are feeling the effects of deprivation but remain committed to their cause.

Meanwhile, after three of his fellow protesters broke their 11-day hunger strike Monday afternoon, Adrian Parsons is still continuing on without food. Tuesday, he vowed to remain striking until Christmas and used Twitter to document visits from the D.C. Department of Health, interact with reporters and retweet his supporters.
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@DOHdc second visit to #hungerstrike, occured this AM. "we're not concerned about your politics, we're concerned about your health." (1/2) Tue Dec 20 15:19:25 via Twitter for iPad [] Adrian Parsonsadrian_parsons
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More on Occupy D.C.:
Occupy D.C. protesters go to Baltimore church

One D.C. hunger striker persists

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