It is often said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In the aftermath of the devastating Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the roadwork has been going into overtime. Ensuring the safety of every American citizen is a worthy goal, and preventing another attack must be high on the list of the government’s priorities.
But we question the wisdom and necessity of the USA Patriot Act, enacted in the wake of the attacks. Many, if not most, of the provisions strike deeply at the Bill of Rights. We applaud the Lane County Bill of Rights Defense Committee’s recent efforts to have local governments condemn the Act.
Our biggest problem with the Act is the imposition of a layer of secrecy surrounding those arrested and detained during anti-terror investigations.
At this time, an unknown number of resident aliens and American citizens may have been arrested in secret for suspected links to terrorist activities. Under provisions of the Act, those arrested can be held incommunicado, unaware of why they have been arrested and unable to speak with lawyers, family or the media. This is outrageous.
Without information on who is being held, and without at least a touch of transparency in the process, how can we know if the Act is working as it should? No one knows the number of people held by the Act’s provisions, let alone their names.
In the wrong hands, this latitude could lead to a flagrant abuse of power. People who criticize the government could, conceivably, be declared “suspected terrorists” and vanish. It has happened before.
In late 1941, the Nazi government in Germany enacted a decree known as the “Nacht und Nebel” (“Night and Fog”) law, meant to end Resistance and Maquis activities in France and other areas in occupied Western Europe.
The practice of this law was to arrest the suspected Resistance member in secret, usually at night. Public trials were rare and usually used only if the accused was likely to be executed. More often, the victim was never heard from again, and any attempt to get information about him from the German occupation government was useless.
Quite literally, those arrested under this law simply vanished into the “nacht und nebel.”
While it may be too paranoid to imagine today that many of the people held under the auspices of the Patriot Act will be executed, it is still chilling to think that in many cases, these people have been kept under secrecy that all too easily mirrors that old German decree.
The slope toward Facism is hardly noticeable along the way. More citizen groups should stand up and voice their concerns about the Patriot Act before we’ve slid much further.
y mirrors that old German decree.
The slope toward fascism is hardly noticeable along the way. More citizen groups should stand up and voice their concerns about the Patriot Act before we’ve slid much further.
Related Links:
Defying Authority – Oregon Daily Emerald
Make draft not war – Oregon Daily Emerald
Patriot Act has yet to hit local bookworms – Oregon Daily Emerald
Final Version of the USA-PATRIOT Act – Center for Democracy and Technology