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Re: Rundown 12-19-03
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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Bush vs Civil Liberties Pt. 1: Court Rules Bush Cannot Hold
Padilla As "Enemy Combatant"
Bush vs Civil Liberties Pt. 2: Court Backs Rights of Guantanamo
Prisoners
Bush vs Civil Liberties Pt. 3: Justice Department Report
Details Abuse of 9/11 Detainees
Resisting Occupation: From Northern Ireland to Iraq
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:30 Bush vs Civil Liberties Pt. 1: Court Rules
Bush Cannot Hold Padilla As "Enemy Combatant"
INTRO: A New York federal appeals court ruled the government
cannot detain U.S. citizen Jose Padilla indefinitely without
pressing charges against him or allowing him access to the
courts. We host a debate with Washington Legal Foundation's
Richard Samp and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional
Rights.
The Bush administration was dealt a triple blow yesterday
when two federal court rulings undermined the administration's
detention policy of suspected terrorists and the Inspector
General’s office of the Justice Department released
a detailed report describing rampant abuse of 9/11 detainees
inside a government-run detention center.
In New York, a divided court ruled that President Bush lacked
the authority to indefinitely detain Jose Padilla - a U.S.
citizen - simply by declaring him "an enemy combatant."
The majority of the three-judge panel ruled that while Congress
might have the power to authorize the detention of an American,
the president, acting on his own, did not. Padilla has been
held in solitary confinement for 18 months without access
to a lawyer or the courts. No charges have been filed against
Padilla who is a US citizen born in Brooklyn.
The court gave the government 30 days to charge Padilla,
release him, or hold him as a material witness.
The evidence against Padilla came under question soon after
his arrest in May 2002. One congressional staffer who was
briefed on the case said "Not many people were satisfied
that we had a whole hell of a lot.”
The White House said it would seek to have the ruling overturned
and directed the Justice Department to seek a stay.
- Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary peaking December
18th, 2003.
- Barbara Olshansky, Assistant Legal Director of the Center
for Constitutional Rights. The Center submitted a brief
to the court criticizing the government for holding enemy
combatants. She is the author of the book “Secret
Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat
to Democracy” (Seven Stories).
Link: www.ccr-ny.org
- Richard Samp, chief counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
The Foundation submitted a brief to the court backing the
government on its enemy combatant policy on behalf of three
Republican members of Congress, Walter Jones of North Carolina,
Lamar Smith of Texas and John Sweeney of New York.
Link: www.wlf.org
8:30-8:40 Bush vs Civil Liberties Pt. 2: Court Backs
Rights of Guantanamo Prisoners
INTRO: A San Francisco Federal Appeals court ruled the government's
treatment of some 660 foreign detainees at Guantanamo Bay
was unconstitutional and a violation of international law.
We host a debate and speak with lawyer Stephen Kenny who recently
visited Australian prisoner David Hicks in Guantanamo.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled 2-1 that the
administration's policy of imprisoning about 660 non-citizens
on a naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without access to
U.S. legal protections was unconstitutional as well as a violation
of international law.
Hours later in San Francisco, federal judges ruled the administration's
policy of imprisoning some 660 non-citizens on a naval base
in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, without access to United States
legal protections
The ruling is essentially symbolic since the Supreme Court
already agreed last month to review a case that upheld the
Bush policy, which denies court access to the prisoners at
the base.
Australian prisoner David Hicks was the first in Guantanamo
to be allowed a visit from an independent lawyer. Hicks was
captured in northern Afghanistan as a suspected Taliban fighter
in 2001. His attorney Stephen Kenny recently returned from
Guantanamo.
- Barbara Olshansky, Assistant Legal Director of the Center
for Constitutional Rights. The Center submitted a brief
to the court criticizing the government for holding enemy
combatants. She is the author of the book “Secret
Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat
to Democracy” (Seven Stories).
Link: www.ccr-ny.org
- Richard Samp, chief counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
The Foundation submitted a brief to the court backing the
government on its enemy combatant policy on behalf of three
Republican members of Congress, Walter Jones of North Carolina,
Lamar Smith of Texas and John Sweeney of New York.
Link: www.wlf.org
- Stephen Kenny, Australian lawyer who recently became the
first attorney to visit a detainee being held at Guantanamo
Bay.
8:40-8:48 Bush vs Civil Liberties Pt. 3: Justice
Department Report Details Abuse of 9/11 Detainees
INTRO: The Inspector General's office of the Justice Department
released a detailed report describing rampant abuse of 9/11
detainees inside a government-run detention center in Brooklyn.
- Barbara Olshansky, Assistant Legal Director of the Center
for Constitutional Rights. The Center submitted a brief
to the court criticizing the government for holding enemy
combatants. She is the author of the book “Secret
Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat
to Democracy” (Seven Stories).
Link: www.ccr-ny.org
- Richard Samp, chief counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
The Foundation submitted a brief to the court backing the
government on its enemy combatant policy on behalf of three
Republican members of Congress, Walter Jones of North Carolina,
Lamar Smith of Texas and John Sweeney of New York.
Link: www.wlf.org
8:48-8:58 Resisting Occupation: From Northern Ireland
to Iraq
INTRO: Veteran journalist Ed Moloney, who has been reporting
on Northern Ireland for two decades, draws numerous parallels
between the situation in Iraq and Northern Ireland.
Five days after the announcement of the capture of Saddam
Hussein, Reuters is reporting that the U.S. has banned all
forms of protests against the U.S. occupation around Saddam
Hussein’s birthplace of Tikrit.
After a recent rally in support of Saddam Hussein, U.S. military
vehicles and tanks raced through the streets. One of the vehicles
broadcast a recording of the U.S.-backed regional governor
in the area. His message was "Any demonstration against
the government or coalition forces will be fired upon. This
is a fair warning."
According to Reuters, all demonstrations have been declared
illegal in the province. Iraqis face a year in jail for participating
in a protest. And any Iraqi civil servants or teachers who
participate in protests will lose their jobs.
Reuters reported one U.S. military officer warned a local
Iraqi in Tikrit not to organize any protests, The U.S. officer
said " Let me make something very clear. If our ears
and eyes see and hear you are connected with demonstrations,
and anti-coalition activities you will be going to jail for
a very long time."
- Ed Moloney, a veteran journalist who has been reporting
on Northern Ireland for two decades. He is co-author of
“Paisley” (1986), an unauthorized biography
of Ulster Protestant leader Ian Paisley and more recently
“The Secret History of the IRA” (2002). He has
been Northern Editor of The Irish Times and The Sunday Tribune
and has written for a wide range of newspapers. In 1999,
he successfully defeated an attempt by Scotland Yard Commissioner
Sir John Stevens to force him to hand over notes of an interview
with a source who alleged an official cover-up of the murder
of a Belfast solicitor. In that year he was elected Irish
Journalist of the Year.
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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