GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
Monday, December 19, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org
GREENS TO CONGRESS:
- MAINTAIN OPPOSITION TO THE USA PATRIOT ACT
- HOLD BUSH ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL DOMESTIC SPYING
- SEEK A COMPREHENSIVE BAN AGAINST TORTURE
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders urged the U.S. Senate to continue resisting White House pressure for
reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, and called for legal action, including possible impeachment and criminal charges,
after President Bush's admission that he had approved electronic eavesdropping without warrant on U.S. citizens by the
National Security Agency (NSA).
"If genuine evidence of a threat to domestic security exists, there's no reason the NSA can't obtain a warrant to begin surveillance," said [Marc Sanson, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States]. "The President says he has no intention of rescinding his secret NSA directive scrapping the Fourth Amendment. This is a grave violation of the President's oath to uphold the Constitution."
Greens asserted that Mr. Bush's assurance, after his meeting last week with Sen. John McCain, that the U.S. would not tolerate torture allowed loopholes for future abuse of prisoners, including use of coerced evidence, denial of legal recourse, warrantless confinement of suspects in Guantanamo Bay and other detention centers, and license for intelligence officials to define what 'torture' means.
Green Party leaders urged defeat of legislation introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and co-sponsored by Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that would allow extra-legal detentions to continue, and called for a comprehensive ban on torture and all such detentions. Greens noted that the false claim of cooperation between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, one of several deceptive justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, was based on information extracted from Ibn Al Shaykh Al Libi by Egyptian interrogators through physical coercion after rendition by the U.S., and which he later recanted.
A reauthorized USA Patriot Act would jeopardize numerous American freedoms, said Greens, and lead to widespread surveillance of U.S. citizens, especially those with dissenting political opinions, without court-authorized warrants based on probable cause. The Act expands on the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, signed by President Clinton, which limited habeas corpus.
Especially dangerous are the Act's provisions allowing unwarranted roving wiretaps and seizure of library, hospital, and business records in order to 'fish' for evidence of conspiracy. Section 602 of the new version felonizes display of unauthorized signs at 'National Special Security Events', such as Democratic or Republican National Conventions and presidential and vice presidential appearances.
"We thank the Senators who voted against cloture, and we urge all of Congress to stand with the nearly 400 towns and cities and the seven states [Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, and Vermont] that have passed resolutions condemning the Patriot Act's assault on our freedoms," said Richard Scott, Online Fundraising and Outreach Coordinator for the Green Party.
"The renewal and expansion of the USA Patriot Act is the latest in a series of governmental action which threaten our future as a democratic republic under the Constitution," said Rebecca Rotzler, co-chair of the Green Party and Deputy Mayor of New Paltz, New York, which passed a resolution against the USA Patriot Act. "Together with election manipulation, domestic spying without court warrant, military tactics by civilian police forces, and Administration lies concerning pre-9/11 intelligence and the false justifications for the invasion of Iraq, the Patriot Act is making our country less free and less democratic. Changing the Administration from one party -- the Republicans -- that introduced these intolerable changes to another party which approved them -- Democrats -- will not reverse our direction. We call for all Americans to stand with the Green Party in speaking out and protecting our rights and freedoms."
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193