The ACLU sent out a message on 12/5/11 warning people that a “dangerous” bill that is being proposed will violate the rights of people, including American citizens, by allowing the military to snatch them up and imprison them without charges or trial. The bill has been denounced by high ranking national security directors, but a determined group of legislators are trying to attach it to the National Defense Act. Chris Anders, the Senior Legislative Counsel for the ACLU, issued the following message:
Let's be clear about what this proposal really is: no due process, no trial, and no proof beyond a reasonable doubt — and indefinite military imprisonment based on suspicion
alone.
A handful of senators secretly came up with this outrageous indefinite detention provision and attached it to the National Defense Authorization Act. And an even smaller group of House members forced through the House of Representatives a law for worldwide war, and worldwide imprisonment, in virtually any country where a terrorism suspect lives, even here in America itself.
The House and the Senate are now rushing to come up with a joint version of the bill and ram it through Congress within the next two weeks.
We know Congress is starting to hear from people who are outraged by this proposal. And if we continue to keep the pressure on, we can stop this. But it's going to take all of us.
The Secretary of Defense, the Directors of the FBI and CIA, and national security experts from both Democratic and Republican administrations have argued against this extreme measure. But, as you read this, secret talks in Congress to force it quickly to final passage continue unabated.
Only a huge public outcry can prevent Congress from crossing a dangerous line that is a direct affront to everything we believe in.
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