20070224

Ten Steps to Restore the United States' Moral Authority

A Common Sense Agenda for the 110th Congress

Perhaps the most important protection against the arbitrary exercise of executive power, the writ of habeas corpus ensures that all persons can challenge the legality of their detention before an independent court. The Military Commissions Act of 2006, as interpreted by the current administration, would deprive any non-citizen labeled "enemy combatants"

A broad coalition of human rights organizations and religious groups has issued a document outlining ten steps the United States Congress must take to restore the moral authority of the United States.

The complete document is available here, but, briefly, the coalition is calling on Congress to

  1. restore habeas corpus;
  2. stop renditions to torture;
  3. abolish secret prisons;
  4. hold abusers accountable;
  5. hold fair trials;
  6. prohibit abusive interrogations;
  7. close Guantánamo Bay;
  8. respect the laws of war;
  9. protect victims of persecution from being defined as terrorists; and
  10. end indefinite detention without charge.

Among the organizations that are part of the coalition are Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Concerned Foreign Service Officers, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, and even the conservative Rutherford Institute.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/02/22/usdom15384.htm


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