By Kenneth J. Theisen,
8/14/07
On
Monday August 13th, the American Bar Association (ABA) passed two
resolutions which should send a strong message to the Bush regime. The ABA is the largest
lawyers” organization in the nation with 413,000 members. One resolution called
on Congress to override a Bush executive order authorizing interrogation
torture techniques such as sensory and sleep deprivation, and simulated drowning
known as waterboarding. The ABA further urged the nation’s legislature to
provide federal courts greater oversight of the Bush regime’s efforts to
utilize the “state secrets” doctrine to dismiss legal challenges to so-called
anti-terrorism programs.
This
summer Bush issued an executive order permitting the CIA to use methods of interrogation
which basically constituted torture and violated the Geneva Conventions, which
require humane treatment of detainees. This resolution was passed by voice vote
with only one “no” vote at the ABA’s 546-member House of Delegates meeting in
San Francisco this week.
The second resolution challenged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales” Department
of Justice (DOJ). DOJ has frequently used of the so-called “state secrets”
privilege in cases challenging Bush regime policies in the “war on terrorism.”
The privilege, which was established by the Supreme Court at the height of the
reactionary McCarthy era, prevents the disclosure of information in court when
“there is a reasonable danger that compulsion of the evidence will expose
military matters which, in the interest of national security, should not be
divulged.” The Bush regime has used this repeatedly to cover up its many
crimes claiming that litigation will hurt its so-called “war on terror” by
revealing state secrets. It has even claimed it methods of torture are state
secrets that if revealed will allow terrorists to prepare to resist
interrogation. This resolution passed without any opposition.
Interestingly
the DOJ is trying to have two current federal cases dismissed by using the
state secrets excuse. In Hepting vs. AT&T, plaintiffs are
suing the telecommunications giant for furnishing customer records to the
National Security Agency without warrants. The Bush regime says if the case goes forward
that vital secrets will be revealed. In the second case, Al Haramain Islamic Foundation vs. Bush,
plaintiffs claim that they are the victims of illegal wiretaps under the
so-called Terrorist Surveillance program. The only secret that the Bush regime
wants to cover-up is the massive extent of its illegal spy programs.
The ABA resolution urges Congress to pass legislation that would limit the
DOJ’s right to use the state secrets privilege. The privilege could only be
used “if the court finds, based on specific facts, that the government has
reasonably determined that disclosure of the evidence would be significantly
detrimental or injurious to the national defense or to cause substantial injury
to the diplomatic relations of the United States.” Even this language
would still allow abuse by the Bush regime of the privilege, but of course the
administration wants no limits on its powers.
The ABA is one of the most conservative legal organizations in the
country. Yet even that body has felt
that the Bush regime has gone too far in its various abuses of power.