In the ever-widening war on terrorism it is important to retain some perspective on our values as a nation. The United States was created under a Constitution which sought to balance the powers of the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government. Every effort was made to assure that no single branch of government could hijack the rights of individuals or the rights of the people as a whole. It has worked well at least until now.
Of all the rights guaranteed by our Constitution the most important is the “writ of habeas corpus.” What this guarantee means is that no one, U.S. citizen or not, can be detained and imprisoned without that person being charged with a crime and having their day in court. It requires that all individuals receive legal justification for detainment and imprisonment. The principle originated from the Magna Carta in 1215 and was later officially written into English law in 1679. It was written to stop the “disappearing” of individuals by the King of England. This law was later written into the U.S. Constitution and stops the executive branch of government from “disappearing” individuals out of convenience.
This most basic right is now under attack in the United States under the guise of fighting terror. Mahar Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained by US authorities during a stopover in a US airport and was shipped to Syria for torture and remained there for over a year. The Canadian government recently admitted that Mahar Arar was completely innocent of any acts of terror. He still suffers intense psychological wounds from his year of torture in Syrian prisons.
If the US government can commit this illegal act under the guise of fighting terrorism, what would stop George Bush from doing this to me or you just because he didn”t like what you or I was saying?
Democracy is not a spectator sport. Don”t let fear of terrorism do to our country what terrorists can only do in their dreams. Democracy must be fought for, and it is most important to fight for it when it is least comfortable.
Remember, a country can only spread freedom if it already has the freedom to spread. Freedom can die, and will die, if we don”t fight for it here at home.
Eric Habegger
Lakeport
