They Voted to Allow Torture
 
 
 
 
In Connecticut, Who Shamefully Supported the Act that allows Torture?
 
Senator Joseph Lieberman,
Representatives Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson, and Rob Simmons.
 
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In Connecticut, Who Courageously Opposed the Act?  
 
Senator Chris Dodd,
Representatives Rosa DeLauro, and John Larson.
 
 
In Summary:
 
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) gives the president of the United States the power to 1) create a tribunal that can arrest any citizen or non-citizen and hold them for trial before a Military Commission.  If they are a non-citizen resident on U.S soil, the President can 2) hold them indefinitely without charge and 3) legally “interrogate” them in a manner that gives lots of room for creative excess, including “Water Boarding’, and 4) prevent them from filing charges against the United States for abusive treatment or torture.
 
How does it work?
 
1.    The MCA grants the President and even the Secretary of Defense the authority to declare anyone – even Canadian or US citizens on their own soil, – as an “unlawful enemy combatant.  See §948(a)(ii) Definitions.”  
 

2.    A “non-citizen who is declared to be an Unlawful Enemy Combatant” is denied the right of a speedy trial.  See §948(b) Military Commission Generally (d)(A)

 

3.    This “non-citizen (Canadians take notice) Unlawful Enemy Combatant” is also denied a writ of Habeas Corpus, which is the right to challenge in a court of law the fact or conditions of their detention – including whether or not they have been or are being subjected to torture.  See Section 7 Habease Corpus Matters (e)(1).
 
4.    Under this system, detainees can be held for many years without being brought to trial and can be tortured but never charged with a crime.  A detainee who is never charged with a crime will also never see a Military Judge or Trial Commission, and can never protest their treatment. Under this law, when and if the detainee is released they will not be allowed to question their arrest, torture, and detention in a court of law.  This effectively makes any prohibition on torture unenforceable because there is no trial, no evidence, and no public accountability.  Habeas Corpus is out the window, and the president can arrest, interrogate, torture, hold, and release with impunity.
 

The Military Commission Act of 2006 is filled with other loopholes not detailed on this site. I Wage Peace . Org suggests you visit our co-sponsor ReclaimingthePropheticVoice.Org for more information on the MCA of 2006.  You may also google search and find numerous legal opinions denouncing this abuse of American law.

I Wage Peace . Org wishes to thank Barrett Outdoor Communications inc. for donating the creative design plus the two interstate billboards for the campaign, Russell Rainbolt and Brian Sells for hand painting and interpreting the creative design, and our co-sponsor, Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice.


 

Our billboard surrounded by photos from the Web Site Anti-Hate.Org and Thememoryhole.org.  These are some of the “less” upsetting photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.  If you find these photographs upsetting, imagine the anger and despair created among the Iraqi people, imagine the unnecessary hatred and call to revenge this illegal treatment has created.

This billboard and Web campaign went live in October of 2006 on RT 84 Waterbury and I-95 in Bridgeport.

 
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 “Allows” Torture.
 
In his opposition to the MCA, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut stated, “This bill’s provision stripping detainees of their rights of habeas corpus is especially troublesome…In our haste to protect ourselves from violent extremists and navigate uncharted waters, we must not let the rule of law be brushed quietly aside.  It is what distinguishes us from the terrorists and the nations that support them.  And it is incumbent upon every one of us to protect the very foundation upon which our nation was established.”  (Link to his entire speech.)
 
            Senator Chris Dodd,
            Connecticut
 
A time comes, when silence is betrayal.
  Martin Luther King Jr.
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I Wage Peace . Org opposes the Military Commissions Act of 2006 because, paraphrasing the words of Senator Chris Dodd, “this nation must not tailor its most fundamental principles to the conflict of the moment…if we [do], we [will] be walking in the very footsteps of the enemies we despised. As [a] nation.. [we must turn] ..away from violence in the name of the law, [and] set a shining and lasting example for the international community as a society grounded in the principles of peace and justice.  (Link to his entire speech)

Note: Five Former Joint Chiefs – Generals Colin Powell, John Shalikashvili, John Vessey, Hugh Shelton, and William Crowe – joined 48 Other Military Leaders and openly stated in writing that this bill had no military value and posed a real threat to our men and women in uniform.  Yet Senator Lieberman, and Representatives Shays, Johnson, and Simmons overruled the generals and voted in favor of the bill.   Now, we have “look tough” legislation that endangers our military, affirms interrogation techniques of no military value, and erodes our basic human rights.