rights of detainees, some may argue, was simply
an unfortunate by-product. Some may argue that
Obama tried to un-do Guantanamo and just found it
far more difficult than he had anticipated. Maybe. But
the fact of the matter is that the Bradley Manning
case is happening on Obama’s watch.
History will also show that Bush used 9/11 as
a pretext to undermine the civil liberties of the
citizenry of the United States by introducing the
Patriot Act and its sequel. When he was first elected,
it was unthinkable that Obama, as a former lecturer
in Constitutional Law would ever entertain any
legislation that usurps rights that have been protected
for centuries.
Unfortunately, the unthinkable has come to pass.
On 31st December, 2011, he signed the National
Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2012 into law.
Section 1021 of this law allows the U.S. Government
to detain people, even US citizens indefinitely
without trial.
Section 1021 of the NDAA is in direct contravention
of the United States Bill of Rights, the document
that has underpinned the democratic rights of the
citizenry of the United States since 1789. It does
away with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution which states,
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized.”
This law also does away with the cornerstone legal
principle of Habeus Corpus, the origins of which date
back to 1640.
6
Section 1021 also gets rid of the aforementioned
Miranda Rights, which entitle an accused person to
legal representation and to a trial by a jury of their
peers.
This act has set the scene for the reversal of
hundreds of years of legal evolution. It undermines
the rule of law and puts us on the fast track back
to the Dark Ages. This legislation is begging to be
abused, and will offer no recourse to its victims. As
former presidential candidate and champion of the
constitution, Ron Paul said in the House of Congress,
the NDAA represents “a slip into tyranny”.
Thankfully, there has been resistance in the courts
led by former New York Times reporter Christopher
Hedges. In the case of Hedges v. Obama, U.S.
District Court, Southern District of New York
(Manhattan), District Judge Katherine Forrest
wrote, “Here, the stakes get no higher: indefinite
military detention - potential detention during a
war on terrorism that is not expected to end in the
foreseeable future, if ever. The Constitution requires
specificity - and that specificity is absent”.
Forrest made permanent a preliminary injunction
against the law that she ordered in May, ruling that
the statute violates rights guaranteed by the First,
Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The White House has however appealed the verdict
and a federal judge in New York, Raymond Lohier,
granted the Obama administration an “emergency”
stay that temporarily blocks the ruling made by Judge
Forrest. The case is ongoing.
“Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. It
must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our
liberties”.
- Abraham Lincoln,
16th President of the United States