Habeas Corpus: R.I.P

This has been a year of shocking attacks on individual liberty by the Bush administration and its Democratic allies. But perhaps nothing better shows the dangerous waters into which America is now heading than the passage on September 27th by Congress of the "Military Commissions Act of 2006."

Habeas corpus is the principle that a free people have the right to see the causes and the evidence for any arrest. Without this basic protection, a government by definition becomes a tyranny. Yet this new bill contains, among other things, a direct assault on the centuries-old right of habeas corpus. It says:
"No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination."
This is a stunning step backwards for human rights. The right of habeas corpus, which is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, is not just for U.S. citizens. It is fundamental for all human beings. Indeed, the principle of habeas corpus predates the founding of the United States by centuries. "The Great Writ," as habeas corpus is called, dates back to England's Magna Carta of 1215.
Habeas corpus was written into our Constitution because, by the time the United States was born, it was considered the bedrock of a free and just society.
This new law doesn't just affect people living abroad. There are millions of residential aliens living and working in America. Because the bill says the U.S. government can determine who can be arrested as a possible "enemy combatant," it removes all protections from false arrest and imprisonment for non-U.S. citizens both in the U.S. and abroad. They can now be "disappeared" indefinitely at the president's wish, and, under other provisions in this wretched bill, subjected to torture in secret prisons.
Further, some commentators (see the link to libertarian Justin Raimondo's article, below) argue that language buried in the bill may allow the president to designate *U.S. citizens* as "unlawful enemy combatants" and strip them of habeas corpus protection and other rights. We will have to wait and see.
The respected human rights organization Amnesty International, after the passage of this bill, noted that America has changed in ominous ways: "The past five years have seen the U.S.A. engage in systematic violations of international law, with a distressing impact on thousands of detainees and their families." Human rights violations have included:

• Secret detention.
• Enforced disappearance.
• Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
• Outrages upon personal dignity, including humiliating treatment.
• Denial and restriction of habeas corpus.
• Indefinite detention without charge or trial.
• Prolonged incommunicado detention.
• Arbitrary detention.
• Unfair trial procedures.

Amnesty goes on to give a lengthy and frightening summary of the bill. Sadly, the junking of habeas corpus is just one of many awful elements. (You can read Amnesty's full report at the URL below.) The report concludes: "Those defending human rights should be prepared for a long struggle."
The bill has been denounced by writers across the political spectrum.
Conservative constitutional scholar Bruce Fein wrote in the Washington Times: "The legislation passed by Congress last week turns the Constitution's philosophy on its head. It authorizes the government arbitrarily to spy, to detain, and to punish without making Americans one whit safer. It curtails liberty for the sake of curtailing liberty."
Liberal syndicated columnist Garrison Keillor joined other critics in hoping that the Supreme Court will throw out the worst aspects of this bill. But he added:
"If, however, the court does not, then our country has taken a step toward totalitarianism. If the government can round up someone and never be required to explain why, then it's no longer the United States as you and I always understood it. Our enemies have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They have made us become like them."
Libertarian writer Justin Raimondo of antiwar.com put it bluntly: "Congress has now granted the president the powers of a dictator."
Does this sound like the America of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights?
The passage of this bill should set off alarms. Libertarians must reach out to, and join with, pro-liberty liberals and conservatives in a massive new effort to preserve and restore civil liberties. The American political debate is no longer about left versus right. It's about freedom versus tyranny.
Sources: Amnesty International
New York Times (September 28, 2006)
Justin Raimondo at antiwar.com
Future of Freedom commentary by Jacob Hornberger
Garrison Keillor commentary
Bruce Fein commentary