Nexus - 1501 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

PROJECT CENSORED'S Top 25 News STORIES CENSORED'S PROJECT STORIES Top News Again, the Project Censored team draws attention to the many important national and global news stories that received little or no coverage by the US corporate media during 2006-07. ach year, the Project Censored team from Sonoma State University, California, selects and evaluates thousands of published news stories by journalists working in the national and international mainstream as well as alternative press. Students, faculty staff and community experts participate in this process, which ultimately decides on the top 25 stories that were the most underreported by the US corporate media. Following is an edited summary of Project Censored's 2006-07 selection. To see the full report with references and updates, visit the web page http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2008/index.htm. — Editor 1. No Habeas Corpus for "Any Person" With approval of the United States Congress and no outcry from corporate media, the Military Commissions Act (MCA), signed by President Bush on October 17, 2006, ushered in military commission law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. While media, including a lead editorial in the New York Times of October 19, have given false comfort that American citizens will not be the victims of the draconian measures legalised by this Act—such as military round-ups and life-long detention with no rights or constitutional protections—Robert Parry points to text in the MCA that allows for the institution of a military alternative to the constitutional justice system for "any person" regardless of American citizenship. The MCA effectively does away with habeas corpus rights for "any person" arbitrarily deemed to be an "enemy of the state". The judgement on who is deemed an "enemy combatant" is solely at the discretion of President Bush. While it is true that some parts of the MCA target non-citizens, other sections [e.g., 950q, 950v] clearly apply to US citizens as well, putting citizens inside the same tribunal system with non-citizen residents and foreigners. Besides allowing "any person" to be swallowed up by Bush's system, the law prohibits detainees once inside from appealing to the traditional American courts until after prosecution and sentencing, which could translate into an indefinite imprisonment since there are no timetables for Bush's tribunal process to play out. Other constitutional protections in the Bill of Rights, such as a speedy trial, the right to reasonable bail and the ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" would also seem to be beyond a detainee's reach. Parry warns: "Under the cloak of setting up military tribunals to try al-Qaeda suspects and other so-called unlawful enemy combatants, Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress effectively created a parallel legal system for ‘any person'—American citizen or otherwise—who crosses some ill-defined line." (Source: Robert Parry, "Who Is 'Any Person’ in Tribunal Law?", Consortium, October 19, 2006, http://consortiumnews.com/2006/101906.html, and "Still No Habeas Rights for You", Consortium, February 3, 2007, http://consortiumnews.com/2007/020307.html) Compiled by Project Censored © 2007-2008 Sonoma State University 1801 East Cotati Avenue Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA Telephone: +1 (707) 664 2500 Email: censored@sonoma.edu Website: http://www.projectcensored.org Compiled by Project Censored © 2007-2008 2. Bush Moves toward Martial Law The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007, which was quietly signed by President Bush on October 17, 2006, the very same day that he signed the Military Commissions Act, allows the President to station military troops anywhere in the United States and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder". The law in effect repeals the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which placed strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. As the only US criminal statute that outlawed military operations directed against the American people, it Sonoma State University 1801 East Cotati Avenue Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA Telephone: +1 (707) 664 2500 Email: censored@sonoma.edu Website: http://www.projectcensored.org NEXUS 11 DECEMBER 2007 — JANUARY 2008 www.nexusmagazine.com