The Dominion - Francesca Manning

US passes bill removing rights of some prisoners

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 14:27:36 +0000

On September 29, the United States Senate followed the House of Representatives in passing a bill that removes a startling amount of the legal checks and balances that limit the power of the president. Particularly arresting is the fact that the bill overturns the habeas corpus laws as applied to any non-US citizen prosecuted by the military.

Habeas Corpus petitions are filed by prisoners in order to question the validity of their incarceration. Senator Patrick Leahy, one of the one-third of US senators to oppose the change, described the disturbing effects of the bill on Democracy Now:

"If you're an alien, even if you're in the United States legally -- a legal alien may have been here ten years, fifteen years, twenty years legally -- if a determination is made by anybody in the executive that you may be a threat, they can hold you indefinitely, they could put you in Guantanamo, not bring any charges, not allow you to have a lawyer, not allow you to ever question what they've done, even in cases, as they now acknowledge, where they have large numbers of people in Guantanamo who are there by mistake…Say you're a college professor who has written on Islam or for whatever reason, and they lock you up. You're not even allowed to question it. You're not allowed to have a lawyer, not allowed to say, 'Wait a minute, you've got the wrong person.' Or…'The one you're looking for, their name is spelled similar to mine, but it's not me.' It makes no difference. You have no recourse whatsoever."

Before the bill was passed, the president already had the legal power to suspend these rights during invasion or emergency. Since September 11, 2001, the President has used the "state of emergency" and the Patriot Act to justify and allow detainment and warrantless surveillance of many citizens and non-citizens alike.

Supporters of the change claim that habeas corpus had to go because it "afforded rights to terrorists." Conservative Senator Jeff Sessions remarked that he did not think the habeas corpus was ever intended for non-citizens in the first place.

Besides abolishing the right to contest one's own arrest and detainment, the changes made on September 29 make it legal to use coerced testimony as concrete evidence, as well as hearsay, if it is deemed reliable by a judge, reports the Associated Press

Charest, Harper Meet with Unelected Haitian PM

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 00:01:51 +0000

Top: demonstrators carry signs depicting Latortue with the words "wanted for crimes against humanity". Above: Charest with Latortue. photo: Aaron Lakoff [View all photos]

Gerard Latortue, the unelected Prime Minister of Haiti, visited Jean Charest in a private meeting on Saturday, March 11. Spokesperson for Charest said that "The premier wanted to thank him for what he did for Haiti and get an update on the situation there."

Amnesty International is one of many organizations who have accused Latortue of crimes against human rights, including the authorization of police to fire on demonstrators in Haiti, approving the jailing of hundreds of political opponents, and supporting the violent and repressive Haitian National Police in their crackdowns on poor neighborhoods and sporting events. The Haitian National Police are also widely believed to perpetrate ongoing attacks on the leadership and support base of the widely-popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas.

Serge Bouchereau, of the group Resistance Haitienne au Quebec, said that "By agreeing to meet with Mr. Latortue -- a criminal against humanity -- we believe that Mr. Jean Charest has become silently complicit... The people of Haiti want nothing to do with Mr. Latortue, who is an imposed prime minister who was parachuted into Haiti by Washington, Canada and France."

Outside of the meeting, a group of about 70 protesters chanted "Latortue, assassin! Charest, accomplice!" and handed out pictures of Haitian victims of police violence laying on the streets of Cite Soleil, Haiti.

Yves Engler, of the group Haiti Action Montreal, expressed concern that Latortue's visit was an attempt to secure certain agreements between Canada and Haiti before the newly elected Rene Preval takes office.

The Haitian community in Quebec is the largest in Canada, holding some 75,000 Haitians. The province has spent just under $5 million in "aid" for Haiti since 1997.

Francesca Manning

» Hard Beat News: Latortue Greeted By Protests During 'Secret' Canada Visit

» Canadian Press: Charest meets with interim Haitian leader in Montreal amid vocal protests

» Montreal Gazette: Protest decries Charest meeting Haitian leader

Vancouver Olympic budget woes only the beginning: critics

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 20:22:04 +0000

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for the Olympic Games in 2010 has recently announced that construction costs for Olympic venues have risen 23% to 508 million. On the same day, the city of Montreal announced that it has finally paid back its debt for the Olympic games that were held there 30 years ago.

Critics say that in addition to plunging cities into debt, the Olympic Games have a history of purging downtown areas of poor and homeless people, while pushing up housing costs. Rabble.ca reported that Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seoul and Beijing have all evicted and removed people from low-income neighborhoods near the locations of their Olympic games. During Expo 86, Vancouver evicted hundreds, and reports suggest there will now be similar development pressures in the Downtown Eastside. A community based watchdog group, the Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition (IOCC) has formed to monitor the developments.

Attempts at institutionalized monitoring of Olympic spending and development have been cut short. In 2003, the Vancouver Sun reported that five Liberals MLA's voted against a motion that an "auditor of record" be appointed to keep track of costs for the 2010 winter games. One of the five MLA's that voted against the bill, Ida Chong, argued that to pass such a motion would "set a precedent."

Originally, Vancouver's Olympic bid stated that a large part of the "athlete's village" that is to be constructed for the games would be redirected afterward towards low-income housing. This plan has been reevaluated by the newly elected city council, which recently announced that most of the dwellings created for the village will be sold at market prices.

Vancouver's Olympic plans also include the construction of a new rapid transit line to connect downtown Vancouver with the suburb of Richmond and the city's airport. This project has been credited as key to Vancouver's successful Olympic bid. InTransitBC, a limited partnership between Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the multinational engineering firm SNC Lavalin, is in charge of construction and operation of the line for the next 35 years.

Social justice activists have attacked SNC Lavalin for supplying bullets to US forces in Iraq; undertaking oil, hydroelectric, and mining projects on Cree and Innu territories in Quebec; and the construction of nuclear reactors in China and South Korea.

Vancouver pledged $600 million for their Olympic Games and is, so far, $110 million over budget.

» Creative Resistance: Olympic Watch

» Monday Magazine: Liberals reject watchdog for Olympic Games

» Ida Chong, MLA: Auditor role not rejected