This week, Congress will vote on the
Bringing Terrorists to Justice Act that will make acts of sexual assault and humiliation against detainees LEGAL.
Even worse, because of the pre-election pressure to seem tough on terror, unless you take action, the bill is expected to pass.
As discussed in the
New York Times Editorial
Rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse are mentioned twice in the bill -- once as crimes that could be prosecuted before military tribunals if committed by an "illegal enemy combatant," and once as "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions that could be prosecuted as war crimes if committed by an American against a detainee. But in each case, the wording creates new and disturbing loopholes.
In the bill, rape is narrowly defined as forced or coerced genital or anal penetration. It utterly leaves out other acts, as well as the notion that sex without consent is also rape, as defined by numerous state laws and federal law. That is the more likely case in a prison, where a helpless inmate would be unlikely to resist the sexual overtures of a guard or interrogator.
The section on sexual abuse requires that the act include physical contact. Thus it might not include ordering a terrified female prisoner to strip and dance, which happened in Rwanda, or compelling a male prisoner to strip and wear women's underwear on his head, or photographing naked prisoners piled together, both of which happened at Abu Ghraib.
PLEASE DON'T LET THIS TRAVESTY SLIP UNDER THE RADAR!!!!
I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE RED OR BLUE - OUR ENTIRE NATION WAS SHOCKED AND ASHAMED AT WHAT WE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN AT ABU GHRAIB. AND NOW CONGRESS IS GOING TO MAKE IT LEGAL!!!
PLEASE ACT NOW!!! CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS and tell them NEVER AGAIN!!! NEVER AGAIN WILL WE COMMIT SEXUAL ABUSE IN AMERICA'S NAME
P.S. for those that need additional motivation to call their legislators:
We already knew the "compromise" bill they reached last week didn't go far enough and left out rights to habeas corpus. Now, from Tuesday's Congressional Quarterly Midday Report we learn
The final version of the detainee legislation was negotiated over the weekend by key lawmakers from both chambers and the White House. It spells out a substantially broader definition of "unlawful enemy combatants" than the initial compromise hammered out last week.
Under the new definition, "unlawful enemy combatants" would include anyone "who has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its co-belligerents" in the war on terror.
That definition would sweep in not only those captured post-Sept. 11 but also those responsible for the suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 or attacks on the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa. It also would reach those who finance or arm terrorists.
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW!! and tell them to vote NO on the (sic)Bringing Terrorists to Justice Act. And then call everyone you know and tell them to call Congress too.
We must do everything in our power to defeat this abhorent bill that would permit sexual torture to be used on detainees who have no right to counsel, or forever hold our heads in shame as Americans.
PLEASE CALL.