Category: Civil Rights

National Security Letter Gag Rule Overturned

No Comments

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has found that the Patriot Act’s gag rule associated with national security letters is unconstitutional:

The appeals court invalidated parts of the statute that wrongly placed the burden on NSL recipients to initiate judicial review of gag orders, holding that the government has the burden to go to court and justify silencing NSL recipients. The appeals court also invalidated parts of the statute that narrowly limited judicial review of the gag orders – provisions that required the courts to treat the government’s claims about the need for secrecy as conclusive and required the courts to defer entirely to the executive branch.

This is a victory against one of the most Kafkaesque aspects of the security state created by Bush and His Evil Minions™, which allowed the FBI to demand evidence without a warrant, and prohibited the recipient of a letter from talking to a lawyer to challenge the letter.

Muntazer al-Zaidi Is Going to Be Murdered

No Comments

Seriously, he is. We just had his court hearing before a judge in his cell, “because he is too injured to appear in a courtroom, his brother says.”

He’s being tortured, and not a word from Bush of Perino on this, which would stop the abuse, because Perino is a wind up doll, and Bush likes it when people he sees as slighting him are hurt….Hell, he probably just likes it when people are hurt.

We also have a report that Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Speaker of Iraq Parliament resigned over this, though it is unclear as to whether it was a real resignation, and if real, it is unclear if he was doing so over al-Zaidi, or because the body was in complete pandemonium:

Several Sadrist lawmakers interrupted, demanding that the session address al-Zeidi’s case and allegations that he had been beaten in custody. A noisy argument broke out after other lawmakers shouted that the case was a matter for the courts, according to Wisam al-Zubaidi, an adviser to Khalid al-Attiyah, parliament’s deputy speaker.

With legislators screaming at one another, speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, shouted: “There is no honor in leading this parliament and I announce my resignation.”

Al-Mashhadani, who has not taken a public position on al-Zeidi, has a history of eccentric behavior and it was unclear whether the resignation was serious. Two years ago, the Shiite bloc ousted al-Mashhadani after a series of outbursts, but his fellow Sunnis forced his reinstatement.

An official in the speaker’s office confirmed al-Mashhadani’s announcement but said he was uncertain whether he meant what he said. The official said the speaker may have been made the remark because he was upset. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Hero

No Comments

Newsweek has the story of Thomas Tamm, the whistleblower who blew the lid off the illegal NSA surveillance program.

Their tag line after the hed is, “Is he a hero or a criminal?”

He is a hero:

In the spring of 2004, Tamm had just finished a yearlong stint at a Justice Department unit handling wiretaps of suspected terrorists and spies—a unit so sensitive that employees are required to put their hands through a biometric scanner to check their fingerprints upon entering. While there, Tamm stumbled upon the existence of a highly classified National Security Agency program that seemed to be eavesdropping on U.S. citizens. The unit had special rules that appeared to be hiding the NSA activities from a panel of federal judges who are required to approve such surveillance. When Tamm started asking questions, his supervisors told him to drop the subject. He says one volunteered that “the program” (as it was commonly called within the office) was “probably illegal.”

Tamm agonized over what to do. He tried to raise the issue with a former colleague working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the friend, wary of discussing what sounded like government secrets, shut down their conversation. For weeks, Tamm couldn’t sleep. The idea of lawlessness at the Justice Department angered him. Finally, one day during his lunch hour, Tamm ducked into a subway station near the U.S. District Courthouse on Pennsylvania Avenue. He headed for a pair of adjoining pay phones partially concealed by large, illuminated Metro maps. Tamm had been eyeing the phone booths on his way to work in the morning. Now, as he slipped through the parade of midday subway riders, his heart was pounding, his body trembling. Tamm felt like a spy. After looking around to make sure nobody was watching, he picked up a phone and called The New York Times.

He has a defense fund, H/t to Firedoglake for this information:
Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund
Bank of Georgetown
5236 44th Street
Washington, DC 20015.

You Know that No One Will See See the Inside of a Cell

No Comments

Or even a few days paid suspension, but it’s pretty clear that Barry Cooper found some dirty cops in Odessa, TX.

He set up a house with surveillance equipment, and then put a couple of Christmas trees under grow lights, and 24 hours later, the police swore to probably cause to get a search warrant, and entered the house.

They are currently refusing to supply the affidavits, but it’s clear what happened: They illegally used infrared cameras looking for grow lights, and then lied to a judge to get a warrant.

Zimbabwe Update

No Comments

Well, it appears that I missed a rampage by Zimbabwean troops who had not received their pay, but caught the story that Mugabe is looking at retribution against those soldiers:

In a clear sign that President Mugabe’s hold on his state security machinery is starting to crumble, his once-loyal soldiers ran amok across the capital on Monday after they failed to access their paltry wages in the cash-strapped banks. The unarmed soldiers fought with heavily-armed police and several were arrested.

It was the third outbreak of such violence since last Thursday. The sight of rampaging soldiers was then unprecedented. Army sources said an inquiry had already begun, with dozens facing courts martial. Unconfirmed reports say three of the 12 soldiers who took part in Thursday’s riot have been killed.

So it appears that the rank and file in the Zimbabwean Army are starting to lose discipline.

In the short term, this is troubling, in the medium term, it may mean that Mugabe is closer to being out than I would have believed, and in the longer term, it does not bode well for a post ZANU-PF nation.

In the mean time, things are getting worse, with cholera deaths increasing, and there have been public protests about this from health care professionals.

It’s not just cholera though, the UN has run out of funds for food aid, so for many, starvation looms.

On the bright side, we are seeing a bit of backbone from the African community, with
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga calling explicitly for Robert Mugabe’s removal and he and ANC president Jacob Zuma have publicly declared that that will work together on the crisis, which is clearly a disavowal by Odinga of Thabo Mbeki.

It’s also interesting that the Kenyan Prime Minister has called for a military intervention to depose Mugabe, followed by war crimes trials.

Hopefully, this means that there will be some meaningful movement (meaningful means out) by Robert Mugabe, but I have a feeling that he will not leave while he is still alive.

SCOTUS to Review al-Marri

No Comments

This is actually probably the most significant of the “unlawful combatant” detention cases, as Ali al-Marri was a legal resident of the US arrested in the US, and so whatever precedent we see here would apply to citizens.

The short version is that he was arrested for credit card fraud, but the charges were dropped and he was detained as an enemy combatant, and detained in the US navy brig, where he has been subjected to torture.

The only evidence that has been presented is a, “sworn statement from a defense intelligence official.”

If Bush and His Evil Minions&trade win this one, and it will actually be heard under an Obama administration, it will mean that the President can lock up anyone at any time for any reason without recourse to the courts.

George W. Bush would have made Stalin proud.

Good Point

No Comments

David Lee, writer and producer, nails the issue:

Whenever anyone justifies their bigotry with what I call DHRB (deeply held religious beliefs) we roll over as if that were the end of the discussion.

We have confused respecting a persons right to hold whatever religious beliefs they chose with respecting those beliefs. The truth is there are plenty of DHRB that are simply not worthy of our respect. Can we start with the ones that have no respect for us? Can you imagine an African American respecting someone’s DHRB that the Bible justifies slavery? The right to believe it, yes. The belief itself? No way.

The fact is that there are many people out there who are not so much pro-religion as they are pro-hate, and they use religion as nothing more than a way to provide cover for that hate, and their ideas should not be granted any respect.

California Probing Mormons for Illegal “in Kind” Campaign Contributions

No Comments

It appears that they neglected to report extensive “in-kind” donations on the Prop 8 campaign:

….. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints failed to report money invested to organize phone banks, send out direct mailers, provide transportation to California, mobilize a speakers bureau, send out satellite simulcasts and develop Web sites as well as numerous commercials and video broadcasts.

It’s not the contributions, it’s the failure to report that is in question here.

Obama Staffing Update

No Comments

Nell Lancaster at a Tiny Revolution has a very good point, “President-elect Obama just made public the choices for his administration’s ‘economic team.’ What sort of signal does it send that a Secretary of Labor was not among them?” (emphasis mine)

On the good news side of the equation, we have John Brennan withdrawing his name from consideration as head of the CIA.

I guess that all the DFHs* objecting to his consistently pro-torture, pro rendition, and anti-civil rights statements won.

We are also seeing reports that Robert Gates will be the choice for SecDef, and that he would continue in the role that he assumed under Bush and His Evil Minions™ for at least a year into the Obama administration.

Not too impressed with that. I have not trusted him since Iran Contra, and defense procurement is completely out of control, and a change is needed.

Gates is not a change the system kind of guy.

*Dirty F%$#ing Hippies, which is what bloggers who care about right and wrong are, you know?

Florida Ban on Gay Adoptions Thrown Out

No Comments

This is just plain common sense, and the case involves a gay man who took in two abused kids as foster children, but the Florida Department of Children & Families wants to continue to pay this guy to be a foster parent, so they are appealing.

This is the second ruling on this in the past 3 months.

It turns out that Florida in a fit of Anita Bryant induced insanity, passed a law prohibiting gay adoption in 1977.

Zimbabwe

No Comments

It looks like Mugabe is going to be forming a government unilaterally. They have already sent a copy of the legislation to form the government to Thabo Mbeki, who will doubtly side with Mugabe again.

Thankfully, Mbeki is no longer South African president, because if he were, he would never have moved to withhold 300 million rand ($28 million) in Zimbabwe aid over the stalled negotiations.

That’s a positive development, and occurred only because the ANC forced Mbeki out of the presidency.

Zimbabwe

No Comments

Well, with the election, I’ve taken my eye off the ball with regards Zimbabwe.

It appears that there are two camps in the Zimbabwe crisis among the Southern African Development Community (SADC), led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who generally cuts Mugabe infinite slack, and President Ian Khama of Botswana, whose opposition to Mugabe is best described as vociferous.

I agree with Mr. Khama.

In any case, the SADC summit was held, and both parties attended, though Tsvangerai made it clear that he would not sign an agreement just to satisfy mediators, which is a not so thinly veiled swipe at Mbeki’s disasterous involvement in the process.

Of course, while this is all going on, ZANU-PF is still engaged in a broad ranging program of harassment, violence and intimidation….Same old, same old….

In any case, it’s refreshing to see that Jacob Zuma, who had Mbeki ousted as South African president, Zuma says SADC summit must force Zimbabwe deal | International | Reuters
is making it clear that he will not accept Mbeki’s do nothing style:

“As far as I’m concerned SADC must make those Zimbabweans reach an agreement,” Jacob Zuma told Reuters after a speech to the Cape Town Press Club. “They must force them.”

So it now appears that there may be a full summit of the SADC, which is pretty much a recognition that Mbeki is simply not up to the task here.

So they held the summit over the weekend, but which came to nothing.

It appears that there was an offer to “co-manage” the home affairs ministry, but I think that it’s clear that the MDC “co-manager” would have no voice in the matter, which they rejected.

In any case, it appears that Mugabe is now saying that he will unilaterally allocate cabinet positions.

One final note is that we now have confirmation of one of the more bizarre aspects of this whole affair, that the ZANU-PF for signing at altered the prior agreement document

Before any progress can be made the SADC leaders will have to resolve the controversy over the documents that were signed by the three Zimbabwean leaders. In an earlier report The Zimbabwean stated that they had been doctored behind Tsvangirai’s back by Zanu (PF)’s Patrick Chinamasa, MDC-M’s secretary-general, Welshman Ncube and one of Thabo Mbeki’s representatives.

We now understand Ncube had nothing to do with the doctoring and we apologise to him unreservedly. Patrick Chinamasa has admitted to tampering with the documents and to “accidentally” deleting two paragraphs which alter the document substantially.

I’m not sure exactly how you deal with people who see this as a legitimate negotiating ploy, and, short of declaring ZANU-PF a terrorist organization, and while it it is actively terrorizing its populace, this would be a misuse of the statute, I’m not sure what the US can do.

NSA Ignores Congress, Classifies Wiretap Report

No Comments

This is such a surprise:

When Congress passed a landmark electronic-spying bill last summer, the measure included a key provision that ordered the inspectors general of U.S. intelligence agencies to produce the first-ever public report on President Bush’s warrantless-surveillance program.

The report isn’t due until next July—long after Bush leaves office. But when the inspectors general recently submitted their first “interim” report to Congress under the measure, it wasn’t made public. Instead, the brief document, written by CIA inspector general John Helgerson, was marked classified—a move that has drawn a stiff protest from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes.

…..

Since when do Bush and His Evil Minions™ ever feel the need to obey the law?

Weekly Zimbabwe Update

No Comments

The short version is that everything is screwed up and the deal is collapsing.

There is, however some good news, which is that after Mbeki’s latest visit, the SADC has defacto taken him out of the process, because both sides have asked the SADC to intervene directly, as opposed to through Mbeki, in what Tsvangerai calls “Tsvangirai slams Mugabe’s dialogue of the deaf.”

This really should help things move along, because Mugabe no longer has a biased ally at the negotiating table, though actually holding the meeting may be problematic, because Tsvangerai cannot travel to the meeting until he is
given a passport by the government.

As a result of all this, we have warnings of new sanctions from the US and EU.

Both the MDC and Botswana have made calls for a new election, though one wonders how much of that is gamesmanship at the negotiating table.

Of course, nothing involve Zimbabwe would be complete without some truly bizarre machinations, in this case the accusation by the MDC that the deal that was formally signed was changed from what was negotiated, specifically:

  • an increase to the number of non-constituent senators issued to the Mutambara faction;
  • changes to a clause stating that a replacement for vice prime minister cannot be a non-constituent MP;
  • changes to the agreement that parties would jointly consult each other on the appointment of ambassadors and other key government officials.

Zimbabwe Deal Collapses

No Comments

Basically, because Thabo Mbeki wanted a deal to secure his legacy, he forced the MDC to sign a deal that wasn’t fleshed out, so now Mugabe has unilaterally appointed his minions to head the military, police, and state media ministries.

This means that the ZANU-PF would retain control of the country, and their thuggish “war veterans” would continue to operate with impugnity.

Representatives of the MDC have stated the obvious, that they should have waited until the details on power sharing were hammered out. Of particular interest is the quotes that point the finger for this failure squarely at Mbeki:

Various media reports quote informed sources as saying: “Tsvangirai made it clear that he did not trust Mugabe and insisted that the key issue of the allocation of ministries should be put into black and white first and vowed he would not sign the deal if this condition was not met,” said a source who negotiated for Tsvangirai’s party. “Mugabe had promised that all the parties would have a key ministry and even suggested that he would retain Defence and Agriculture, while Tsvangirai would be allocated Home Affairs and Information. Mutambara was supposed to get Justice and Youth.”

But the sources said Mbeki lambasted Tsvangirai, after Mugabe had declared his commitment to making the deal a success. “Mbeki told him, ‘Heads of states are already here for the signing of this deal and you say you cannot sign’ – and Tsvangirai had no option,” said the source. Mbeki had held private talks with Tsvangirai the previous Tuesday as the power-sharing deal remained deadlocked.

It is now blindingly clear that Mbeki is, as I have repeatedly said, is the problem, not the solution.

Not surprisingly, Tsvangirai has threatened to withdraw from the power sharing deal as a result.

In an attempt to put out this fire by adding gasoline, Mbeki is headed back for more negotiations.

The right move would be to replace Mbeki with someone who isn’t in Mugabe’s pocket.

As a result we are seeing another refugee flood into South Africa, and threats of of new sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Mugabe’s thugs are returning to form, with riot police beating protesters.

It appears that the main driver of this is the fears of Mugabe’s generals that they would be subject to criminal prosecution if the opposition takes any control of the state security apparatus.

On Zimbabwe, Mbeki, and South Africa

No Comments

First, we have Robert Mugabe’s statement that Thabo Mbeki’s resignation as South Africa’s president is, “devastating”.

While it’s clear that there is a large amount of personal affection between the two leaders, I think that it is also that there is a class issue behind this statement, which I will get to, that has served to protect Robert Mugabe to the disadvantage of the Zimbabwean people.

We now have reports of Mbeki knowingly pressuring the MDC’s Tsvangerai to sign a an ambiguous deal, to the advantage of Mugabe, and now it’s clear that Mugabe’s ZANU-PF is completely disinterested in forming a meaningful unity government.

At the same time, we have elements of the ANC threatening to leave the party, and I think that both of these have to do with the class issues within that part of the world.

When you look at Robert Mugabe, Thabo Mbeki, and head of the splinter MDC Faction Arthur Mutambara are all western educated, and wear clothes made in Saville Row, and they look upon the idea of an African born and educated trade unionist (Morgan Tsvangerai) or strong union sympathiser (Jacob Zuma) with no small amount of alarm and disdain.

At the core of Mbeki’s support for Mugabe was, I think, a sort of noblesse oblige where he does not believe that Tsvangerai, or people “like” has the wherewithal to lead.

Small minded bigotry knows no color, and I hope that Mbeki is feeling bad right now because someone else got the Nobel Peace Prize.