Those DHS Federal Police could take the Portland arrestees to the nearest military base and hold them there incommunicado with no call to lawyers. Their relatives might never be informed about their detention. Except for Habeus Corpus…,
About that Habeus Corpus, Obama cancelled that when he “reluctantly” signed the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Obama on the 31st December 2011 authorises the indefinite detention, without trial or indictment, of any US citizens designated as enemies by the executive. The individuals concerned are not only those who have been captured on the field of battle, but also those who have never left the United States or participated in any military action.”
“The National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Obama on the 31st December 2011 authorises the indefinite detention, without trial or indictment, of any US citizens designated as enemies by the executive. The individuals concerned are not only those who have been captured on the field of battle, but also those who have never left the United States or participated in any military action.”
globalresearch | Far from having broken with his Republican predecessor,
Democratic President Barack Obama has now reinforced the law of
exception that he criticised when he was a senator. It is now possible
to deprive United States citizens of their fundamental rights because
they have taken part in armed action against their own country, but also
when they take a political position favourable to those who use
military action to resist the Empire. Worse – Barack Obama has added to
the law John Yoo’s “Unitary Executive theory,” which puts an end to the
principles of the separation of powers as defined by Montesquieu. The
security policy of the United States President now escapes all control.
The Presidential elections, and the game of a possible changeover
between Democrats and Republicans, cannot hide a marked tendency towards
mutation in the form of the United States executive, regardless of the
colour of the Presidential ticket. And it seems that the most
significant change in the law has taken place under President Obama.
Barack Obama was elected by evoking a future based on respect for the
fundamental rights of individuals and nations. But assessment of his
presidency reveals an entirely different picture. The visible aspects of
this, such as the failure to close down Guantánamo Bay, the maintenance
of exceptional military tribunals or the practice of torture in
Afghanistan, are only the tip of the iceberg. These elements only allow
us to note the continuity between the Bush and Obama administrations.
However, there has been such reinforcement of the previous political
structure that the form of the state has now changed, creating a
hitherto unseen modification of the relation between the authorities and
the citizens of the United States.
The possibility of treating US citizens as foreign ’terrorists’ has
been a constant objective of the government executive since the attacks
of 9/11. By the new prerogative which has been awarded him by the
National Defense Authorization Act – that of being able to nullify
Habeas Corpus for US citizens and not just for foreign nationals – the
Obama administration has achieved what the previous government had only
planned but never instituted.
