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PROGRAMS
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 LCHR has written a series of reports on the erosion of civil liberties in the U.S. since 9/11. The three reports, and the dates they cover, are: Assessing the New Normal 3/03 to 9/03 Imbalance of Powers 9/02 to 3/03 A Year of Loss 9/01 to 9/02  Read LCHR's Letter on the Judicial Nomination of Defense Department General Counsel William Haynes (11/18/03) Read LCHR's Letter on the End Racial Profiling Act of 2003 Read LCHR Op-Ed Detained at the whim of the president (12/10/03) Yaser Hamdi: Background on His Case ‘Special Registration’ Requirement Suspended (12/02/03) Afghanistan: Deaths of Prisoners Held In US Custody Amplify Torture (11/21/03) LCHR Rebuts Attorney General’s USA PATRIOT Speech Padilla v. Rumsfeld: Three Legal Briefs Challenging President's Ability to Detain U.S. Citizen Without Charge (July 2003) Appeals Court Authorizes Secret Arrests (6/17/03) LCHR Letter to Ashcroft Re. Detention Without Charge (6/4/03) Justice Department Report Confirms Abuses Against 9-11 Detainees Supreme Court Allows Secret Deportation Hearings To Stand (5/27/03) Military Commission Rules Fail to Include Fair Trial Guarantees (5/23/03) LCHR Urges Attorney General to Release Report on Treatment of Post 9-11 Detainees (5/20/03) Attorney General Ashcroft Calls for Blanket Detention of Haitian Asylum Seekers (4/25/03) Lawyers Committee Condemns Arrests and Detention of Dissidents in Cuba (4/9/03) Egypt: Torture of Anti-War Demonstrators Continues (3/26/03) Recent Victory for Haitian Refugees Thwarted by Department of Homeland Security (3/21/03) “Operation Liberty Shield” Turns Liberty on its Head (3/18/03) Developments in the Cases of Security Detainees Held by the U.S. Government (3/11/03) LCHR U.S. Law and Security Work from 9/01 to 12/02  US Law & Security |
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"Custody Procedure” and Detention without Charge On June 2, the Office of the Inspector General released its public report on its investigation into the treatment of aliens detained after the September 11 attacks. The investigation was announced in April 2002 and included an examination of the Justice Department’s compliance with law, regulations, and policies that protect the civil rights of detainees. LCHR applauded the report, noting that it reflects many of the Lawyers Committee’s findings on injustices suffered by those detained in the U.S. after 9-11. On June 3, a Justice Department Spokesperson stated that many of the actions recommended in the IG’s report had already been taken. LCHR is concerned about a particular problem raised by the Inspector General in the report which the Department of Justice has not addressed. It involves the continued reliance on the so-called “custody procedure” regulations which permit detention of any alien - regardless of whether they have been designated as a “suspected terrorist” - without charge beyond 48 hours for a “reasonable period” in the event of “emergency” or other “extraordinary circumstances.” On June 4, the Lawyers Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft urging him to withdraw the custody procedure regulation. The letter states, in part: “After passage of the PATRIOT Act, the Lawyers Committee submitted comments on this [custody procedure] regulation, warning that it was overly broad, inconsistent with the PATRIOT Act, and would be prone to abuse resulting in prolonged detention without charge. We urged that the regulation be withdrawn. Our concerns about this regulation are reinforced several times in the IG's Report…. We renew our call that you withdraw this regulation.” |
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