Fight the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Federal Courts, H.R. 968 from HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST 9MAI11

THIS is frightening, and as an American I should never be afraid of my government, but this scares me. In a Spring where thousands are dying in nonviolent protest and revolutions and thousands have been arrested, and hundreds disappeared, all in struggles for freedom and democracy across the Islamic world our government is seeking the authority to treat us in the same manner the despotic governments in N Africa, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf treat their own. If H.R. 968, the Detainee Security Act is passed and signed into law it will be the most violent assault on our human rights, civil rights and civil liberties in generations. I have an fbi file on me because of my politics, it was started when I was in the 9th grade, the nixon era. I have been arrested several times during and participated in many nonviolent protest against some of our governments policies. Under this law it will be possible for someone to decide the protest is a terrorist activity or supporting terrorism. I will not be intimidated and stop exercising my civil rights and liberties, but I should never, ever have to be afraid when doing so either. Click the link or header to e mail your Representative and tell them to vote against H.R. 968!

Help push back: write your member of Congress today! There's an effort underway to bring back torture and militarize law enforcement in the United States. While former Vice President Dick Cheney and other proponents of "enhanced interrogation" techniques trumpet the role of torture in the hunt for Bin Laden, Congress is considering a bill that would disrupt our counterterrorism efforts and grant huge amounts of power to the President without the necessary oversight. Write your members of Congress and urge them to oppose this bill by voting for amendments that would strip the bill's key provisions from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). H.R. 968 or The Detainee Security Act would : Give the President unfettered authority to go to war in Iran, Indonesia, and elsewhere to fight terrorists; Require local law enforcement and the FBI to turn over to military custody any terror suspects, including American citizens, captured in the United States without trial and; Make the failed experiment of Guantanamo permanent by barring federal court prosecution of prisoners held there and barring repatriation of innocent men unless ordered by a court to transfer them. This bill threatens to undermine national security by uprooting established counterterrorism tools and supplanting them with dangerous, untested, and overly-militarized procedures. The FBI and local law enforcement have successfully elicited a substantial amount of intelligence information from terrorism suspects. And our criminal justice system has a proven track record of handling terrorism in the courts, convicting over 400 terrorist suspects since 9/11. The military commissions have only convicted 6. Fight the militarization of law enforcement and federal courts! Ask your representatives to oppose the Detainee Security Act by voting for amendments to strip its key provisions from the NDAA. The United States government already has broad authority and strong tools to disrupt, detain, and prosecute international terrorists under current law. Congress should focus on strengthening established and effective counterterrorism tools, rather than expanding costly, unpopular wars and enshrining Guantanamo as a permanent fixture of second-class justice. Thanks for your help. Sincerely, C. Dixon Osburn Director, Law and Security Program

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