|
American Muslim & Arab groups support
Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA)
AMP Report
American Muslim and Arab organizations today (June 16, 2004) joined the Rights Working Group, a new coalition of human rights, civil liberties, civil rights, and immigrant rights organizations in urging Congress to pass the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA).
The bill, which would roll back some of the most egregious and ineffectual post-9/11 policies and ensure respect for basic rights and fair treatment under the law, was introduced earlier in the day by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and William Delahunt (D-MA). Local groups across the country held rallies and press conferences to call attention to the Steady undermining of civil rights in their communities due to misguided post-9/11policies.
"In the past two and a half years, Arab Americans, and above all the immigrants in our community, have faced numerous instances of detention without due process, various forms of profiling, discriminatory special registration requirements and other derogations of civil liberties," said Mary Rose Oakar, President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
"These abuses have not made our society more secure, they have merely made us less just and less fair." Former Congresswoman Oakar concluded, "It is high time to correct these patterns of abuse and over-reaching that have developed in the post-September 11 environment, and to restore balance between security and liberty."
The American Muslim Council, in a statement, thanked national and local organizations for supporting the Civil Liberties Restoration Act and speaking out in favor of preserving the American system of justice and law.
The AMC statement added: “As lawmakers move towards negotiating compromises between justice and security on behalf of American citizens, particularly American Muslims, we ask lawmakers to remember that religion is an inefficient proxy for terrorism. The government should not directly or indirectly sanctify religion as a proxy for terrorism in its laws, not only because it compromises the fundamental civil liberties of Americans, and denigrates a majority of Muslims' compassionate and peaceful faith, but also because something so diverse, changing, and abstract as faith is an unworkable cornerstone to base the long term security of Americans.”
"Innocent Muslims have borne a disproportionate burden of the hastily drafted, and ill-conceived Patriot Act," said AMC Executive Director Ali Khan. "The Civil Liberties Restoration Act is a good first-step towards a better liberated policy of security and justice."
The American Muslim Voice also joined its partners in the Rights Working Group, a new coalition of human rights, civil liberties, civil rights, and immigrant rights organizations in urging Congress to pass the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA).
American Muslim Voice Executive Director, Samina Faheem Sundas, said constitutional rights and civil liberties should be preserved and protected for all. “The CLRA legislation should be supported to restore civil liberties eroded in the name of security since 9/11 terrorist attack.”
The Civil Liberties Restoration Act reflects the consensus of security experts that many of the post-9/11 policies have undermined national security and eroded civil liberties. Specifically, the bill redresses troubling new policies such as arbitrary and indefinite detentions, secret hearings, severe restrictions on due process, and violations of privacy and First Amendment rights. The legislation also contains provisions that halt the practice of special registration and call on the U.S. Department of Justice to create a separate and independent immigration court to improve accountability.
Among other provisions, the bill would:
* End secret arrests by revoking the government's current blanket authority to close all deportation hearings; the bill permits closure of all or part of a proceeding only after the government demonstrates a compelling privacy or national security interest before an immigration judge.
* Require that individuals detained for immigration violations are advised of charges within 48 hours and given the right to a fair bond hearing.
* Eliminate criminal penalties for minor technical violations such as failure to report a change of address within ten days.
* Limit the secret seizure of private databases and individual records.
Cases across the country demonstrate that post-9/11 policies have undermined civil liberties:
* The U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General report documented that hundreds of people with no connection to terrorism were detained for weeks or longer without notice of the charges against them, denied the right to an attorney, prevented from speaking to their families and subjected to inhumane treatment.
* Hundreds of men from predominantly Muslim, Arab and South Asian countries were detained and held when they reported for the special registration program set up to track specific ethnic minorities.
* The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detained a thirty-year-old father of five for two months after learning he had failed to notify the agency of a move from Florida to Virginia. The INS took the rare step of trying to deport him even though its own guidelines state that failing to report an address change "shall not normally serve as the sole basis for deportation." Hundreds of immigrants have been held for similarly minor violations.
"This is not simply an immigrant problem or an Arab-American problem, this affects all of us," said Wade Henderson Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and a member of the Rights Working Group, "History has shown that as government activity moves into the shadows our core values of an open and just society are eroded to the point that we are all potential targets of extrajudicial action."
June 16, 2004
What does the CLRA mean for
the Arab-American community?
The Civil Liberties Restoration Act ("CLRA") seeks to counter the civil liberties violations committed against our communities in the name of national security. Some government measures taken in the aftermath of September 11 attacks on our nation were necessary tools to respond to and protect our country from terrorist threats. However, many others violated and continue to violate the basic civil rights of our community. No terrorists were caught, and we are not safer as a result.
The CLRA will restore minimum due process rights, the right to privacy, the right to be free from unreasonable searches, seizures, and imprisonment. Of special importance to the Arab-American community is the fact that the CLRA will eliminate the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System ("NSEERS"), a highly discriminatory and ineffective policy, which has severely affected our community. Countless Arab and Muslim men who voluntarily complied with Special Registration were detained and or deported and removed solely for failing to comply with the Special Registration program despite the fact that the program was poorly publicized and the official Arabic translation of the Special Registration requirements was mistranslated and misleading. A total of 13,000 Arab and Muslim men faced deportation proceedings as a result of NSEERS. While the Department of Homeland Security advertised the suspension of the Special Registration program, many requirements are still in effect and failure to comply with them still triggers a criminal violation and removal from the United States.
The CLRA also seeks to eliminate criminal penalties for failing to register or provide a change of address and replace them with civil penalties. Many members of our community were charged criminally and put in removal proceedings because they failed to send a change of address form within 10 days of moving. This is clearly a disproportionate penalty, which coupled with the racial and religious profiling of our community, has had a significant impact on our community.
The CLRA also states that the information entered into the National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") should comply with the accuracy standards in the Privacy Act. Considering that racial and religious profiling by local, State and Federal law enforcement is occurring on a regular basis, correcting the information entered into the NCIC would greatly improve the odds that members of our community would be unjustly arrested or detained as a result of false information in the NCIC.
Source: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
June 16, 2004
Why I support the Civil Liberties Restoration Act?
While effective steps must be taken to enhance our security, our government must not trample on the Constitution and the basic rights and protections that make American democracy strong. Doing so will damage our liberty here and our credibility around the world.
Shortsighted policies represent false solutions to real problems and do not enhance our security.
Security and law enforcement experts agree that when the government bases anti-terrorism policies on inaccurate or irrelevant information, resources are diverted away from collecting, analyzing, and sharing good intelligence and finding those who plan to do us harm.
The April 2003 Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General report documented that hundreds of people who had no connection to terrorism were jailed after 9-11. Many were detained for weeks or months without notice of charges against them, kept from speaking to their families and their attorneys, and subjected to mistreatment. This was unfair, un-American, and a waste of resources.
Since September 11, the Executive branch has instituted many initiatives that leave minority communities feeling besieged and isolated, making it more difficult for law enforcement to obtain information critical to the battle against terrorism.
Upholding basic rights and the rule of law is essential to our long-term success in countering terrorism and creating a safer and more stable world.
Real security is based on ensuring an environment in which human rights are respected.
One of our strongest weapons against extremists around the world is to stay true to core American values and fundamental human rights, like the presumption of innocence, access to counsel, and equal treatment under the law.
How we treat people at home affects how others are treated abroad – including Americans. When the United States fails to respect human rights and uphold the law, Americans are less safe when traveling, working, or serving their country abroad.
Congress Must Act.
Congress must limit executive branch overreaching and ensure that every person receives fair treatment under the law.
Congress must engage in serious oversight to ensure that there are checks and balances in our democratic system to guard against mistakes made by those who act incorrectly.
Democracy dies behind closed doors.
Congress needs to pass the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA). The CLRA would roll back some of the most egregious post-9/11 policies to meet new security demands while preserving fundamental liberties and American values of fairness and equal treatment for all.
The Civil Liberties Restoration Act is important to all those who cherish freedom and liberty.
Every human being has basic rights like the right to a fair trial and equal treatment under the law. These rights have served as models for democracies around the globe and are essential to the American way of life.
We want what everyone wants: fair rules that are evenly enforced and that actually make us safer.
Our nation’s history shows that often practices that were first directed against a small minority were later used to target others. The internment of both citizens and immigrants of Japanese ancestry during World War II, and the targeting of people who “sympathized” with Communism bear this out.
The Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA) would affirm the values of fairness, equality, and open government that have made our nation strong.
The United States can best meet new security demands by preserving fundamental liberties and American values of fairness and equal treatment for all. The CLRA allows us to move forward with liberty and security as coequal and attainable goals.
The CLRA promotes the integrity of the American system of justice and reaffirms our commitment to core constitutional values.
The CLRA is part of a larger commonsense response to government actions that went too far for too long without oversight.
The CLRA will help protect core values at home while demonstrating to the world that the United States takes seriously the rights of people it detains.
The CLRA restores basic rights to all and extends special rights to none.
The CLRA reaffirms that government and law enforcement carried out in secrecy is inconsistent with American values. Secret arrests and secret trials deprive the American people of their right to know whether their government is acting fairly and lawfully.
June 16, 2004
|
