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Those Pesky Judicial Activists
huffingtonpost.com — Maher Arar, the poster boy for the U.S. Government's program of "extraordinary rendition" has again been denied his day in court and Congressional efforts to rein in the Bush Administration's widespread use of national security as a defense appear to be foundering.
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- Minarchian, on 07/07/2008, -2/+8"It's long past time for Congress to address the state secrets privilege. Congress needs to ensure -- and the American people need to feel confident -- that the courts are adjudicating the privilege properly and not just giving the Executive a free pass. No one in America should be above the law."
Exactly - tc399, on 07/07/2008, -2/+10We have become the Nazis our fathers (mine in particular!), fought to rid the world of. We have become the country of a government responsible to no one, oppressing it's own citizens without redress, that we blamed Saddam Hussein for being.
We have become the Dark Side. We all know it, we all hate it, but everyone is too afraid of the agencies created to protect us to free ourselves from tyranny.
People who support the Constitution used to be called Patriots. Now we are all suspected terrorists, spied upon by and in fear of our own government.
Something changed, but it wasn't the Constitution. Everyone in public service should be required to recite the Constitution, including the Preamble and the Bill of Rights, from memory, in English, and explain them before they are given the oath of office. Breaking the oath should be AND IS High Treason. THAT is the law we need to enforce.
And we need to enforce it with good old hemp rope. - girwen, on 07/07/2008, -3/+9Somebody must go to prison for what was done to this man. If the United States is not up to it then the rest of the world can do it.
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
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Article 3
Seat of the Court
1. The seat of the Court shall be established at The Hague in the Netherlands ("the host State").
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Article 5
Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court
1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. The Court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute with respect to the following crimes:
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(b) Crimes against humanity;
(c) War crimes;
(d) The crime of aggression.
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Article 7
Crimes against humanity
1. For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
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(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
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2. For the purpose of paragraph 1:
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(d) "Deportation or forcible transfer of population" means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law;
(e) "Torture" means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;
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(g) "Persecution" means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity;
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(i) "Enforced disappearance of persons" means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.
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Article 8
War crimes
1. The Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.
2. For the purpose of this Statute, "war crimes" means:
(a) Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
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(ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
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(vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/statute/99_corr/cst ...
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