-
Excerpts: A
number of governments rushed through legislation and other
"anti-terrorism" measures in the name of security. These measures
include indefinite detention without trial, special courts based
on secret evidence, or cultural and religious restrictions --
sometimes creating shadow criminal justice systems. There was a
greater reluctance by governments to criticize others' domestic
policies.
"Security can not and must not take precedence over human
rights. The biggest danger to human rights is when political and
economic interests are allowed to drive the human rights agenda,"
stated Ms Khan.
Amnesty International USA
Release of 2002 Human Rights Report, C-Span Video
Excerpt: In
late November, the Attorney General released partial data on the
arrests, revealing that 104 people had been charged with various
criminal offences, many of them minor and none directly related to
11 September, of whom half remained in custody. Another 548
unidentified individuals were held on immigration charges. The
authorities failed to give information on where the detainees were
held or whether those facing deportation on immigration charges,
who included asylum-seekers, had adequate access to legal
representation.
F.B.I. Agent Says Superior
Altered Report, Foiling Inquiry, NYTimes
Excerpts: A
senior F.B.I. agent in Minneapolis has accused a supervisor at the
agency's Washington headquarters of altering a report in a way
that made it impossible for investigators to obtain crucial
evidence in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th
hijacker, before the Sept. 11 attacks (…).
In her letter, Ms. Rowley was especially critical of the F.B.I.
director, Robert S. Mueller III, whom she wrote had made
"misleading" public statements on how the F.B.I. handled the
Moussaoui case both before and after Sept. 11, (…).
The Rowley Memo, NYTimes
Excerpts: Why
did F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller desperately stamp "classified"
on last week's memo to him from the Minneapolis agent and counsel
Coleen Rowley?
Answer: Because he is protecting the bureau's crats who ignored
warnings from the field before Sept. 11, and because he is trying
to cover his own posterior for misleading the public and failing
to inform the president in the eight months since.
She [Rowley , Ed.] asserts (…) "your statements
demonstrate a rush to judgment to protect the F.B.I. at all
costs."
F.B.I. Chief Admits 9/11
Might Have Been Detectable, NYTimes
Excerpts: Mr.
Mueller's statements about how the F.B.I. dealt with intelligence
reports before Sept. 11 were a sharp turnabout from both the
substance and tone of remarks he and other other administration
officials made in the weeks after the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon. As recently as May 8, Mr. Mueller told a
Senate hearing that there was nothing the agency could have done
to prevent the attacks.
But that stance became increasingly untenable in recent weeks
(…).
-
Excerpt: While
saying she does not believe the FBI director engaged in a
post-9/11 cover-up, Rowley accuses Mueller and senior aides of
having "omitted, downplayed, glossed over and or/mischaracterized"
her office's investigation of Moussaoui. After Sept. 11, top FBI
officials decided to "circle the wagons," as she puts it, and deny
- as Mueller did immediately after the attacks - that the FBI had
any knowledge that Islamic terrorists might be planning an attack
involving hijacked airplanes.
Thanks for the
Heads-Up, NYTimes
Excerpt: Cheney,
Rumsfeld, Ridge, Mueller. Is there anyone who has not warned us of
Armageddon over the past week? As far as I can tell, the only
slacker in this White House game of Wag the Dog is Spot.
You don't have to be a cynic to believe that the point of the
warnings is not to save lives so much as political hides. After
all, we can't go about our daily business much differently just
because of these dire pronouncements.
ACLU Blasts Plan to Use
Flawed Facial Recognition System at Statue of Liberty and Other
NY Landmarks, ACLU Press Release
Excerpt: The
American Civil Liberties Union today sharply criticized a plan to
use ineffective facial recognition technology during the Memorial
Day weekend to augment security at popular New York tourist
destinations including Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty.
"To have such a system in place near the Statue of Liberty --
our nation's beacon of liberty -- is both ironic and
disheartening, (…) it is an insult to the American people and
to those in law enforcement who truly know how to keep us safe."