What's new at BORDC:
Buttar and Fein speak to press on torture
BORDC Executive Director Shahid Buttar and Advisory Board member Bruce Fein joined attorney Kevin Zeese for Velvet Revolution's Disbar the Torture Lawyers press conference in Washington, DC, on Monday, June 29. Watch Shahid's statement or the entire press conference.
Sign on for prosecution of torture
The Attorney General's reluctance to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate potential crimes by former officials involved in torturing detainees is endangering our nation’s fundamental values and our credibility as a worldwide human rights leader. Sign your name to a letter to the Attorney General and Senate Intelligence Committee today.
People's Campaign for the Constitution
The People's Campaign for the Constitution is a broad, national, nonpartisan, grassroots movement to take back our constitutional rights. Join today and help build a coalition in your community or congressional district to hold your legislators accountable for fulfilling their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution. Email our organizer to learn more.
Why is this fight still so important? Here are five reasons.
Current Civil Liberties Issues
*Updated* Graham-Lieberman bill aims to keep torture photos secret
Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) succeeded in passing in the Senate a bill (S. 1285) that would amend the Freedom of Information Act to allow the President to keep detainee torture photos from being released, as a court has ordered. The bill passed the Senate with unanimous consent on June 17, and proceeds to the House. It is unclear whether the House will consider the bill, though it may be attached as an amendment to a DoD funding authorization bill. President Obama strongly supports the measure. Learn more.
President proposes preventive detention scheme
Late last month, President Obama proposed a counterterror policy that would be one of the most egregious constitutional violations we have seen to date: preventive detention. Though details of the plan have yet to emerge, in a preventive detention scheme, individuals who have committed no crime can be detained indefinitely without trial because the government deems them dangerous. Read more about preventive detention and the backlash against it.
Want to take action on these civil liberties issues? Find your legislators' contact information.
In
the News:
7/2, Glenn Greenwald, Salon, The Still-Growing NPR "Torture" Controversy
7/2, Shahid Buttar, Huffington Post, Torturing the Rule of Law
7/2, Charlie Savage, New York Times, To Critics, New Policy on Terror Looks Old
7/2, Daphne Eviatar, Washington Independent, Debate Intensifies Over Preventive Detention
7/2, Benjamin Weiser, New York Times, Secret CIA Jails at Issue in Terror Case
7/2, Chris Good, The Atlantic, Court Battle: Should Harsh Interrogations Be Allowed?
Grassroots News:
3/12, Jason Hagey, News Tribune, Northwest Detention Center owner files suit to block records release
3/1, Jasvir Singh, Global Sikh News, First Global Sikh Civil Rights Conference - Part I
2/23, Manuel Valdez, Associated Press, Wash. activist fights immigrant detention center
1/21, Raleigh News & Observer (NC), Activists to discuss immigration program
1/13, Washington Post, ACLU Will Push For Police Surveillance Limits
1/9, Ian Demsky, News Tribune, Detention center cleanup on Tideflats due again
