Senators Vow to Restore Rights to Detainees

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Excellent news!! This Congress is moving quickly to start the long task of undoing all the arrogant boneheaded moves of this administration.

------------------------------------------------------------
Senators vow to restore rights to detainees (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/pl_nm/usa_security_rights_dc_1)
By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Influential U.S. senators vowed on Thursday to restore to foreign terrorism suspects the right to challenge their imprisonment, saying Congress made an historic blunder by stripping them of that right last year.

Hundreds of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members held at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba could be affected.

The United States has drawn international criticism over its continued detention of terrorism suspects in Guantanamo, with human rights groups demanding the prison be closed and detainees charged with crimes or released.

Last year's Congress, with a Republican majority, passed a law setting specific rules for U.S. military tribunals. It included a ban on non-citizens labeled "enemy combatants" from using "habeas corpus" petitions to challenge the legality of their detention in court, asserting that military panels at Guantanamo were a substitute for court review.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) warned that the rights of some 12 million legal aliens in the United States -- as well as any foreigners visiting the country -- had also been infringed by the new law.

"This new law means that any of these people can be detained forever ... without any ability to challenge their detention in federal court, or anywhere else, simply on the government's say-so that they are awaiting determination as to whether they are enemy combatants," the Vermont Democrat said.

"This is wrong. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American," Leahy said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would share jurisdiction on changing the law.

A Defense Department lawyer and some committee Republicans said the law should be allowed to work and be examined by U.S. courts before Congress acts again.

"Detention of enemy combatants in wartime is not criminal punishment and therefore does not require that the individual be charged or tried in a court of law," said Daniel Dell'Orto, principal deputy general counsel at the
Pentagon.

Leahy, along with Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), has introduced legislation to restore habeas corpus right to detainees. With the help of Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), "I hope we can fix this serious and corrosive problem by this summer," Leahy said.

Levin, a Michigan Democrat, agreed "we have an obligation to act now to establish a process that we can defend."

The writ of habeas corpus -- the phrase in Latin for "you have the body" -- has been a centerpiece of Anglo-American jurisprudence since it was first developed over 300 years ago in Britain. It gives defendants the right to have their imprisonment reviewed by a court.

Administration officials say that some of those at Guantanamo have pledged to attack the United States again if released. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that Congress discuss with President George W. Bush ways to close the military prison without freeing the most dangerous detainees.

[defenseman]

Idiots they are, they believe their rights are more important than ours these days...dman

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Idiots they are, they believe their rights are more important than ours these days...dmanIs that suppose to make some kind of sense?

[defenseman]

I find their stance on this subject hypocritical on a few levels. Why don't we just invite the terrorists over for afternoon tea that way we can be easier targets. The ME terrorists are loving this, and laughing at the US of A right now. Playing right into their capably vicious hands. Way too go Sen. Leahy. He needs to be first to the table for tea and crumpets, oh and don't forget your body armor there senator..dman

[alkemical]

Actually i'm fine with this. If you are going to be held, have due process. By not following our own rules we live by, we don't practice what we preach - so everybody treats us like we are full of ****.

[clarkster]

this definitely falls under the "careful what you wish for" clause.

i can hear it now "former GITMO detainee successful in suicide bomb attack on elementary school in Hometown USA)

[Bronco_Beerslug]

I find their stance on this subject hypocritical on a few levels. Why don't we just invite the terrorists over for afternoon tea that way we can be easier targets. The ME terrorists are loving this, and laughing at the US of A right now. Playing right into their capably vicious hands. Way too go Sen. Leahy. He needs to be first to the table for tea and crumpets, oh and don't forget your body armor there senator..dmanSo you believe in communism, unquestioned dictatorship and totalitarian rule, because that is exactly what those kinds of rulers do to people (imprison them without charges and legal representation indefinitely). Gotcha.

[alkemical]

this definitely falls under the "careful what you wish for" clause.

i can hear it now "former GITMO detainee successful in suicide bomb attack on elementary school in Hometown USA)


What happens when you release a prisoner from prison?

[clarkster]

someday people will realize that the only ones playing by the rules is the US...

[Bronco_Beerslug]

someday people will realize that the only ones playing by the rules is the US...Someday, some people will realize they were completely fooled by the chickenhawks in charge but will never admit it.

[alkemical]

someday people will realize that the only ones playing by the rules is the US...

LOL - True on so many levels.

[clarkster]

Someday, some people will realize they were completely fooled by the chickenhawks in charge but will never admit it.

i hope youre right, and im not afraid to admit it.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

i hope youre right, and im not afraid to admit it.Well, anyone who gives their approval to the Gitmo's of the world has no right to complain about torturing Americans and holding them without any access to family, friends or the legal process in any other country on the planet.

[clarkster]

Well, anyone who gives their approval to the Gitmo's of the world has no right to complain about torturing Americans and holding them without any access to family, friends or the legal process in any other country on the planet.

as i said before, careful what you wish for.
tell me about legal process in any other country on the planet? tell me that Al quaeda follows the legal process. tell me that any country weve fought with follows legal process.

and by the way, i can complain about anything i want. it is my right.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

as i said before, careful what you wish for.
tell me about legal process in any other country on the planet? tell me that Al quaeda follows the legal process. tell me that any country weve fought with follows legal process.
and by the way, i can complain about anything i want. it is my right.So implementing 3rd world dictatorship policy is what we should strive to become, eh?

[clarkster]

So implementing 3rd world dictatorship policy is what we should strive to become, eh?

frankly, i dont give a squirt of piss about any of those people in GITMO. i presume theyre all terrorist assholes waiting to kill me or my family. but im an ignorant lemming and im comfortable with that.
if you think they deserve rights, then vote for it. fight for it. i hope WE dont learn to regret it though.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

frankly, i dont give a squirt of piss about any of those people in GITMO. i presume theyre all terrorist a-holes waiting to kill me or my family. but im an ignorant lemming and im comfortable with that.
if you think they deserve rights, then vote for it. fight for it. i hope WE dont learn to regret it though.That presumption has proven to be anything but true so far. Do you know how the U.S acquired the people there?

[clarkster]

That presumption has proven to be anything but true so far. Do you know how the U.S acquired the people there?

sure, but im certain youll give me the correst answer right? im curious about where you get all of your information?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

sure, but im certain youll give me the correst answer right? im curious about where you get all of your information?OK, how did we acquire them?

[clarkster]

OK, how did we acquire them?

what do you want a timeline of every raid, snatch and grab, arrest, etc?

tell me the correct answer then

[Bronco_Beerslug]

what do you want a timeline of every raid, snatch and grab, arrest, etc?
tell me the correct answer thenWe bought many of them, you left that out.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Bush Cracks Down on Gitmo Detainees, Despite Overwhelmin Evidence Most are Not Terrorists (http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff12192006.html)
Innnocents Abroad

By DAVE LINDORFF

The U.S. is holding hundreds of innocent people at its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Military authorities at Guantanamo have decided to tighten the screws on detainees because it has been determined that the U.S. has been too kind and accommodating to them.

If you find those two sentences jarring and contradictory, you're not alone, yet both were leading news items in today's newspapers. The first appeared in a page one story in of the Philadelphia Inquirer by Associated Press reporter Andrew O. Selsky, which said most of the detainees are innocent of any crime. The second was a page one story in the New York Times by reporter Tim Golden, who reported on a harsh crackdown on Guantanamo detainees, including removal of common eating privileges, inmate soccer games, and incentives for good behavior by prisoners.

Selsky, who traced what happened to 245 of some 360 Guantanamo detainees released by the U.S., found that 205 of them, upon arriving in their countries of origin, were immediately released, after their home governments determined that they were, after all, not dangerous terrorists. According to Selsky, all 83 Afghan captives sent back to Afghanistan were freed after the government there determined that most had simply been turned over to American forces because of "tribal or personal rivalries" and to collect ransoms being offered by US forces.

Pakistan released 67 of 70 Pakistani captives returned to that country after it was determined they too were "innocent."

All 29 detainees repatriated to Britain, Spain, Germany, Russia, Australia, Turkey, Denmark, Bahrain and the Maldives, were freed within hours of being sent home by the U.S., which had delivered them bound hand and foot as "dangerous terrorists."

Selsky's report is a damning indictment of the U.S. operation at Guantanamo, and makes a joke of U.S. claims that the people it is holding indefinitely and without trial on the naval base there are the "worst of the worst," and are, in the words of Pentagon officials, "among the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the Earth." Golden, meanwhile, reports that these remaining prisoners face much harsher conditions in the future than they have been enduring to date. In recent months, the prisoners had been benefiting from a program of incentives that gave them steady improvements in living conditions in return for good behavior. Now three quarters of them are being moved to maximum-security cells.

Rear Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of the compound, told Golden that in his view all the captives are dangerous. He is quoted as saying, "They're all terrorists; they're all enemy combatants," and concluding, "I don't think there is such a thing as a medium-security terrorist."

Golden notes dryly, without comment, that 100 of those 420 prisoners still subject to Adm. Harris's tender mercies have actually been cleared by the military for transfer or release, but are being held while the State Department tries to arr'nge for their repatriation, and that shortly after Harris's comment, 15 detainees were sent back to Saudi Arabia, where the government immediately released them to their families.

[clarkster]

We bought many of them, you left that out.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Bush Cracks Down on Gitmo Detainees, Despite Overwhelmin Evidence Most are Not Terrorists (http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff12192006.html)
Innnocents Abroad

By DAVE LINDORFF

The U.S. is holding hundreds of innocent people at its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Military authorities at Guantanamo have decided to tighten the screws on detainees because it has been determined that the U.S. has been too kind and accommodating to them.

If you find those two sentences jarring and contradictory, you're not alone, yet both were leading news items in today's newspapers. The first appeared in a page one story in of the Philadelphia Inquirer by Associated Press reporter Andrew O. Selsky, which said most of the detainees are innocent of any crime. The second was a page one story in the New York Times by reporter Tim Golden, who reported on a harsh crackdown on Guantanamo detainees, including removal of common eating privileges, inmate soccer games, and incentives for good behavior by prisoners.

Selsky, who traced what happened to 245 of some 360 Guantanamo detainees released by the U.S., found that 205 of them, upon arriving in their countries of origin, were immediately released, after their home governments determined that they were, after all, not dangerous terrorists. According to Selsky, all 83 Afghan captives sent back to Afghanistan were freed after the government there determined that most had simply been turned over to American forces because of "tribal or personal rivalries" and to collect ransoms being offered by US forces.

Pakistan released 67 of 70 Pakistani captives returned to that country after it was determined they too were "innocent."

All 29 detainees repatriated to Britain, Spain, Germany, Russia, Australia, Turkey, Denmark, Bahrain and the Maldives, were freed within hours of being sent home by the U.S., which had delivered them bound hand and foot as "dangerous terrorists."

Selsky's report is a damning indictment of the U.S. operation at Guantanamo, and makes a joke of U.S. claims that the people it is holding indefinitely and without trial on the naval base there are the "worst of the worst," and are, in the words of Pentagon officials, "among the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the Earth." Golden, meanwhile, reports that these remaining prisoners face much harsher conditions in the future than they have been enduring to date. In recent months, the prisoners had been benefiting from a program of incentives that gave them steady improvements in living conditions in return for good behavior. Now three quarters of them are being moved to maximum-security cells.

Rear Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of the compound, told Golden that in his view all the captives are dangerous. He is quoted as saying, "They're all terrorists; they're all enemy combatants," and concluding, "I don't think there is such a thing as a medium-security terrorist."

Golden notes dryly, without comment, that 100 of those 420 prisoners still subject to Adm. Harris's tender mercies have actually been cleared by the military for transfer or release, but are being held while the State Department tries to arr'nge for their repatriation, and that shortly after Harris's comment, 15 detainees were sent back to Saudi Arabia, where the government immediately released them to their families.

2 things
1 who is this guy that wrote this? and what makes him the expert?

2- sorry, but the officials of pakistan, afghanistan or any other stan are about as trust worthy to me as the people they "vetted"

[TailgateNut]

Idiots they are, they believe their rights are more important than ours these days...dman

Actually Bush would like to "erase" everybody's rights, not just those of the detainees. Kinda like the dictator he removed from power in Iraq.


He will go down as the worst President EVER, and his Puppetmaster will go down as the most deceitful VP EVER!

[Bronco_Beerslug]

2 things
1 who is this guy that wrote this? and what makes him the expert?
2- sorry, but the officials of pakistan, afghanistan or any other stan are about as trust worthy to me as the people they "vetted"
So Bush is telling the truth and everyone else is a liar 8')

Easy enough to figure out if you're not blinded by partisanship. Bush is playing GOD by holding humans without charges and no rights for defending themselves. He has basically alienated the entire planet by denying basic human rights to people he labels without proof or trial.
Anyone who condones this kind of uncivilized human behavior should think about relocating to China or NK where this type of behavior is common and accepted.

If we have terrorists there then try them and imprison them... legally.


-------------------------------------------------
Timeline: Guantanamo Bay Britons (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3545709.stm)
After nearly three years' detention in a US military camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for suspected links to terrorism, four Britons have been returned to Britain and released without charge.

In March 2004 five other British detainees were also returned and freed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
US to release one-third of prisoners at Gitmo (http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0425/dailyUpdate.html)
Critics of the prison hail the announcement as a milestone.
By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
The same day that the Department of Defense announced that it was going to file charges against more of the detainees being held at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, including the death penalty in some cases, it also quietly announced that it was going to release 141 of the prisoners.

The Los Angeles Times said the US plans to release about one-third of the men being held at the prison because they pose no threat to the United States.

Longtime critics of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility said the release announced Monday marked a significant milestone in the four years the base has been used as a prison for suspected terrorists. The prison has been dogged by allegations of torture and brought choruses of international condemnation, including calls from a UN panel and the European Parliament to shut it down.

Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, said the full significance of freeing the 141 detainees could not be assessed until their fate is clearer.

Reuters first reported on Sunday that about 30 percent of the prisoners had been freed to go home, but remained in custody because the US government had not been able to return them to their home countries. Of the 141 to be released, 22 will be freed in their home countries, while 119 will be transferred "to the control" of their home governments. Pentagon officials refused requests for specifics about the 141 men, even though the department had last Wednesday released the names of all those still being detained. A spokesman said that because of sensitive negotiations with the detainees' countries, their identities would not be released.

CONT.

----------------

[defenseman]

Actually Bush would like to "erase" everybody's rights, not just those of the detainees. Kinda like the dictator he removed from power in Iraq.


He will go down as the worst President EVER, and his Puppetmaster will go down as the most deceitful VP EVER!

Riiiiiiight. Whatever you say. Oh yeah, let's put the libs in charge so we can go back to a pre 9/11 defensive posture and watch the attack begin. Great Plan. We can all enjoy the carnage, instead of overseas though, we get to see it right here in the good ole US of A. Again, great plan, super job. Nothing like a suicide bomber a day in your own country, really looking forward to that...dman

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Riiiiiiight. Whatever you say. Oh yeah, let's put the libs in charge so we can go back to a pre 9/11 defensive posture and watch the attack begin. Great Plan. We can all enjoy the carnage, instead of overseas though, we get to see it right here in the good ole US of A. Again, great plan, super job. Nothing like a suicide bomber a day in your own country, really looking forward to that...dmanIgnorant ranting. Who was it again that wasn't interested in terrorism (only invading Iraq) when were attacked? Your partisan schlock is pretty weak.

[Bronco Bob]

Riiiiiiight. Whatever you say. Oh yeah, let's put the libs in charge so we can go back to a pre 9/11 defensive posture and watch the attack begin. Great Plan. We can all enjoy the carnage, instead of overseas though, we get to see it right here in the good ole US of A. Again, great plan, super job. Nothing like a suicide bomber a day in your own country, really looking forward to that...dman

Were you referring to the Bush administration, where the Attorney General
was more concerned about covering the boobs on a statue than terrorists.
Where it was decided to do nothing about the bombers of the USS Cole,
because they were "Tired of swatting flies". Where they were given
intelligence by the previous administration that terrorist might be
attempting to hijack airplanes to fly them into buildings and it was
disregarded. Is that what you were referring to by sitting back
and waiting for the attacks to begin?

[TailgateNut]

Dman, you are full of ****!
We are currently creating more Terrorists with our current activities and occupation of Iraq.
Your scare tactics mirror those of GWB and I for one am not scared. If we had a comprehensive immigration policy, border entry control, visa monitoring, and a goverment who doesn't stick their head in the sand when everything points to imminent attacks, we wouldn't have to worry.

It would also help if we stopped acting like the worlds' bully! That creates terrorists also.

[defenseman]

Dman, you are full of ****!
We are currently creating more Terrorists with our current activities and occupation of Iraq.
Your scare tactics mirror those of GWB and I for one am not scared. If we had a comprehensive immigration policy, border entry control, visa monitoring, and a goverment who doesn't stick their head in the sand when everything points to imminent attacks, we wouldn't have to worry.

It would also help if we stopped acting like the worlds' bully! That creates terrorists also.

Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one. Even you...and it appears we disagree. I'm good with that..dman

[Bronco Bob]

Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one. Even you...

He'd have one hell of a case of constipation if he didn't

[TailgateNut]

Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one. Even you...and it appears we disagree. I'm good with that..dman

What part do you disagree with?
That we are in fact currently creating more Terrorists?
That your scare tactics mirror those of GWB?
That I am not scared?
That we are acting like the worlds' bully and that behaving as one creates terrorists also?

What Part???

Opinions based on reality work for this asshole!

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Australia, U.S. behave tyrannically, says ex-PM (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070430/ts_nm/australia_hicks_dc_1)
Mon Apr 30

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's government and close ally the United States behaved in a tyrannical way and for "evil purpose" by jailing militants at Guantanamo Bay, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser said on Monday.

Fraser, a conservative and mentor to current Prime Minister John Howard, said Australia seemed to have lost its democratic path under the man who served as his treasurer and centre-right Liberal Party deputy before becoming leader in 1996.

In an election year criticism of U.S. influence over political direction in Australia, Fraser said Howard should never have agreed to a citizen and accused Taliban fighter, David Hicks, being locked up for five years at Guantanamo Bay awaiting trial.

"We used to believe that those in positions of political authority would respect and work to protect the rights of all Australian citizens. We now know that to be naive and incorrect," Fraser said in a speech to the Australian National University.

"Policies now applied suggest that the rule of law and due process for all people, regardless of influence, race, religion, color or country of origin, is under threat."

Fraser, who led Australia from 1975 to 1983, has become alienated from his political roots and has been a staunch critic of many Howard policies, including enforced detention for refugee hopefuls in remote offshore processing centers.

In one of his strongest anti-Howard speeches so far and with polls showing slipping support for Australia's leader ahead of elections later this year, Fraser said Australia's agreement with Guantanamo military tribunals was a disgrace.

"The main story is a willingness of two allegedly democratic governments prepared to throw every legal principle out the window and establish a process that we would expect of tyrannical regimes," he said.

"That our own democracies should be prepared to so abandon the rule of law for an expedient and as I believe, evil purpose should greatly disturb all of us."

Hicks, 31, the first war crimes convict among the hundreds of foreign captives held at the Guantanamo prison camp, is due to be sent back to Australia soon under a plea bargain agreement.

He was sentenced by a U.S. military commission to seven years' jail after pleading guilty to supporting terrorism before his capture in
Afghanistan in December 2001, where he trained with al Qaeda.

[TailgateNut]

BB, the only people who don't see a problem are our own citizens. those few who would still close their eyes and follow Bush on his trek off the cliff! You know, those you see driving down the road with that "clueless/ out of touch" look on their face. Some actually have yet to scrape ye old "W04" sticker off the rear window.

Dman, do you still have yours?

[alkemical]

Four students arrested for heckling FBI director (http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/27/News/Four-Students.Arrested.For.Heckling.Fbi.Director-2885713.shtml)

By: Elizabeth Ress
Posted: 4/27/07
Police arrested four Harvard University students last night for heckling FBI Director Robert Mueller prior to his speech on the "Balance of National Security and Civil Liberties," witnesses said.

Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn confirmed that four Harvard students were arrested outside the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He could not verify their identities or the circumstances under which they were apprehended.

Harvard senior Austin Guest, who was outside the event when he saw the police take away the students, said officers handcuffed the protesters after escorting them out of the building.

"[Officers] told me if I talked to [the students], I would be arrested," he said.

Police and forum staff declined to comment on the incident.

The event, which students described as particularly crowded, had more security than usual because of Mueller's high profile. The protesters "probably expected to be escorted out, but not to be arrested," Guest said.

Mueller was unfazed by the student chants to "free all political prisoners" and "close Guantanamo, stop the lies," and instead commended the protest, saying they were a testament to freedom of expression.

Once the audience had quieted, Mueller, who was appointed director of the FBI one week before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, warned that although the United States has "been successful in preventing another attack on our homeland, we are still not safe."

"Al Qaeda is no longer just an organization, but is now a movement," he said, adding that the FBI was "worried now of . . . [terrorist] pockets in our own neighborhoods," citing alleged terrorist activity in New York and Ohio as examples.

Mueller said that, to protect citizens from harm, the FBI needed to access certain information such as cell-phone records.

"We have a right to privacy, but we also have a right to ride the T . . . and not have bombs exploding," he said.

In concluding his speech, Mueller said the FBI strives to be transparent by admitting its mistakes, saying, "our ability to protect the American people depends in large part on the American people's ability to trust us."

John Cassidy, a Kennedy School graduate student, said he thought the arrested protesters should have voiced their opinions during the question-and-answer session that was held after Mueller's presentation.

"[Heckling] is a fairly ineffective way to get your message across," Cassidy said.

Several students said it is uncommon for students to protest speakers at Harvard forums, which regularly attract the world's most influential policymakers, but it has happened in the past. Alyssa Aguilera, a Harvard junior who witnessed the students' arrests, said protesters at past events had been quieted or escorted out, but never arrested.

"It's just sad that this is how the FBI responds to such situations, and it's telling of how they respond to situations around the world," she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2007 The Daily Free Press

[TailgateNut]

They should have known, any dissent will be punished. Freedom of speech, assembly used to be rights, now????






PS:
Hey Dman, I thougt by fighting "over there" we would keep them "over there". If thats so, what is this?

"Al Qaeda is no longer just an organization, but is now a movement," he said, adding that the FBI was "worried now of . . . [terrorist] pockets in our own neighborhoods," citing alleged terrorist activity in New York and Ohio as examples.

[defenseman]

BB, the only people who don't see a problem are our own citizens. those few who would still close their eyes and follow Bush on his trek off the cliff! You know, those you see driving down the road with that "clueless/ out of touch" look on their face. Some actually have yet to scrape ye old "W04" sticker off the rear window.

Dman, do you still have yours?

Don't believe in ruining a perfectly good car with ANY bumper sticker. Don't believe in them..dman

[defenseman]

Four students arrested for heckling FBI director (http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/27/News/Four-Students.Arrested.For.Heckling.Fbi.Director-2885713.shtml)

By: Elizabeth Ress
Posted: 4/27/07
Police arrested four Harvard University students last night for heckling FBI Director Robert Mueller prior to his speech on the "Balance of National Security and Civil Liberties," witnesses said.

Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn confirmed that four Harvard students were arrested outside the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He could not verify their identities or the circumstances under which they were apprehended.

Harvard senior Austin Guest, who was outside the event when he saw the police take away the students, said officers handcuffed the protesters after escorting them out of the building.

"[Officers] told me if I talked to [the students], I would be arrested," he said.

Police and forum staff declined to comment on the incident.

The event, which students described as particularly crowded, had more security than usual because of Mueller's high profile. The protesters "probably expected to be escorted out, but not to be arrested," Guest said.

Mueller was unfazed by the student chants to "free all political prisoners" and "close Guantanamo, stop the lies," and instead commended the protest, saying they were a testament to freedom of expression.

Once the audience had quieted, Mueller, who was appointed director of the FBI one week before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, warned that although the United States has "been successful in preventing another attack on our homeland, we are still not safe."

"Al Qaeda is no longer just an organization, but is now a movement," he said, adding that the FBI was "worried now of . . . [terrorist] pockets in our own neighborhoods," citing alleged terrorist activity in New York and Ohio as examples.

Mueller said that, to protect citizens from harm, the FBI needed to access certain information such as cell-phone records.

"We have a right to privacy, but we also have a right to ride the T . . . and not have bombs exploding," he said.

In concluding his speech, Mueller said the FBI strives to be transparent by admitting its mistakes, saying, "our ability to protect the American people depends in large part on the American people's ability to trust us."

John Cassidy, a Kennedy School graduate student, said he thought the arrested protesters should have voiced their opinions during the question-and-answer session that was held after Mueller's presentation.

"[Heckling] is a fairly ineffective way to get your message across," Cassidy said.

Several students said it is uncommon for students to protest speakers at Harvard forums, which regularly attract the world's most influential policymakers, but it has happened in the past. Alyssa Aguilera, a Harvard junior who witnessed the students' arrests, said protesters at past events had been quieted or escorted out, but never arrested.

"It's just sad that this is how the FBI responds to such situations, and it's telling of how they respond to situations around the world," she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2007 The Daily Free Press

Heckling is not the way to get your point across agreed....dman