Bill of Rights Defense Campaign

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Dissent Is Patriotic

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee's e-mail newsletter

December 2006, Vol. 5, No. 8

In this issue:

  • Message of Hope for the New Year
  • New Resources: Coming Soon: See and Hear Moazzam Begg on YouTube; Hear a Nixon-era Whistleblower’s Perspective on NSA Wiretapping
  • Grassroots News: January 11—International Day to Shut Down Guantánamo; Bill of Rights Day & Human Rights Day; Local Congressional Actions; Resolutions; Torture and Rendition; Detentions; Targeted Communities; Rising Up to Squash REAL ID; Looking Forward to 2007
  • News Briefs: Human Rights Abuse Database—José Padilla

The BORDC needs your help. It is not too late to make a tax-deductible contribution to our end-of-year fund drive. To contribute funds or stock online, go to http://www.bordc.org/donate.php, or mail a check or money order to:
8 Bridge St., Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060

Message of Hope for the New Year

After five years of grassroots action to restore Bill of Rights protections, incoming congressional leadership is now promising some changes in that direction. We can’t expect those changes to come all at once, though: Nothing is ever easy in Washington! But be assured that no changes would have been possible were it not for the hard work of people like you.

You have been courageous: First of all, it’s hard to oppose something called the “PATRIOT Act,” but you saw through the ruse and showed other people that there was nothing patriotic about its contents, risking accusations of being unpatriotic and even “pro-terrorist.”

You have been inclusive: You organized across party lines knowing that the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the responsibility for upholding them belong to no one political party.

You have learned: You have studied the laws and issues at stake, and many of you have expanded your organizing and lobbying skills. In fact, some of you had never done any grassroots organizing before the need to restore civil liberties demanded your attention.

You worked “miracles,” according to some Washington pundits: Thanks to you, the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act that nearly everyone in Washington predicted would pass without any real debate was filibustered, and the “400 resolutions” were in the minds and on the lips of many members of Congress who supported amending the Act to strengthen civil liberties protections.

You have spoken and been heard: You have been vocal in your communities, and by working together nationwide, you have literally become the “elephant in the room”: When members of the Administration have claimed that most of the population supports their anti-terrorism policies, the media have been able to point to 8 state legislatures and 401 city, town and county governments who disagree.

For five long years, you have captured your federal, state, county and local governments’ attention and respect, and you have assured them that if they support the Bill of Rights—the original “contract with America”—they will enjoy their constituents’ support.

Promises from the 110th Congress are exciting, but our experience with Congress for the last five years has shown us that we can’t expect any results unless we continue and intensify our work. Politics can transform oversight hearings into virtual standing ovations for government officials, compromises can dismantle meaningful legislative reform, and the veto pen and presidential signing statements can make them completely disappear.

The first 100 days will be an important period in the new Congress, and the next few years will be a critical time for us to show that the grassroots movement to restore Bill of Rights protections is not going away; in fact, it is continuing to grow. If you have been meaning to form or to reinvigorate your group, now is the time. Our regional organizers, Hope Marston (Western Region) and Paul DeMarco (Eastern Region) will be happy to help you.

Local BORDCs have thoughtfully gathered to share their suggestions and priorities. For a summary of their suggestions, see "Looking Forward to 2007." We at the BORDC thank all of the local BORDCs and coalitions who continue to organize nationwide. Congress needs to continue to see and hear from all of us every step of the long road to full constitutional rights and liberties. They need to know that the majority of their constituents support any actions they may take to restore civil liberties. Let’s help them set the agenda.

On January 4, 2007, all members of Congress will take an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” In light of Congress’s recent record of defending our Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee offers role models to point the way: local BORDCs.

We at the BORDC look forward to working with you in the coming year.

How Much Is Freedom Worth to You?

For more than five years, the U.S. government has spent hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to mine our personal data, spy on Americans with no evidence of wrongdoing, detain thousands of men indefinitely without charging them, classify documents, and use propaganda to gain the public’s trust.

The BORDC’s grassroots approach to restoring our freedoms is much more economical than our government’s approach to curbing them. Your tax-deductible contribution is needed right now to help us energize local education efforts, document the harmful effects of the government’s laws and policies on innocent people, and bring the work of restoring our civil liberties to parts of the country where it has been slow to develop.

Thank you to all of you who have contributed to BORDC!

If you have not already donated, there is still time to support our end-of-year fundraising campaign! To contribute funds or stock online, go to http://www.bordc.org/donate.php, or mail a check or money order to:
8 Bridge St., Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060

New Resources

Coming Soon: See and Hear Moazzam Begg on YouTube

Last month, BORDC recorded a video conference between U.K. citizen and former Guantánamo detainee Moazzam Begg and a western Massachusetts audience, which was made possible by the Odyssey Bookshop, an independent bookseller in South Hadley, MA. Begg is the author of Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment at Guantánamo, Bagram, and Kandahar. We will place the video on YouTube next week and include a link on our web site.

Hear a Nixon-era Whistleblower’s Perspective on NSA Wiretapping

In 1970, BORDC Advisory Board member Christopher H. Pyle was working in U.S. Army Intelligence when he blew the whistle on COINTELPRO (the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program). On Corporate Watchdog Radio hosted by Sanford Lewis, Pyle explains how Internet and computer technologies and government outsourcing to data collection companies such as ChoicePoint enable the government to collect our private data efficiently, and the potential for the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program to cut off the media from government whistleblowers. Hear the interview, Ransacking Liberty: The Phone Companies and the NSA, online.

Grassroots News

January 11 – International Day to Shut Down Guantánamo

BORDC is working with WitnessTorture, Center for Constitutional Rights, CodePink, and United For Peace and Justice to rally national support for a march and demonstration in Washington, D.C., and in communities throughout the U.S. It’s the 5th anniversary of the first detainees being imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Local Actions

Northampton, MA: The Pioneer Valley Coalition Against Secrecy and Torture is planning a demonstration and street theater. For more info contact Marty Nathan at gjf@comcast.net.

What You Can Do

Many other groups around the country are planning local actions in these communities: Boise, ID; Chicago, IL; Corvallis, OR; Duluth, MN; Humboldt County, CA; Miami, FL; New York City; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco, CA; Saratoga Springs, NY; Syracuse, NY. Check in with WitnessTorture for more details, and to sign up your own local action.

Bill of Rights Day & Human Rights Day

December 15 was the 215th anniversary of the ratification of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Local Bill of Rights Defense Committees observed both Bill of Rights Day and Human Rights Day (December 10) by passing proclamations and resolutions in their communities, putting on public forums, and broadcasting Bill of Rights public service announcements on local radio stations.

Local Actions

Boulder, Colorado: The Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, along with the ACLU of Colorado, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, and El Centro Amistad, hosted a Bill of Rights Day public forum that featured BORDC Board President Chip Pitts, ACLU-Colorado Executive Director Cathy Hazouri, and Anna Cayton-Holland, an attorney who represents prisoners at Guantánamo.

Fort Collins, Colorado: On December 10, Bill of Rights Supporters of Fort Collins offered a Human Rights street theatre performance titled “Human Rights Day with George, Dick and Ken.” The skit dramatized elements of the Constitution being torn up by George, while Dick says, “That’s a no-brainer,” and Ken (U.S. Senator Ken Salazar) wrings his hands as an innocent family man is shown the sorts of treatment that are in store for him.

Two days earlier, on December 8, the BOR Supporters of Fort Collins held a public discussion of the Military Commissions Act.

New York City: The original copy of the Bill of Rights as ratified by the State of New York was put on display at Federal Hall National Memorial for four days: December 14 - 17. The display marks the first time the original document has been exhibited in New York City since it was signed there in 1790, according to the records of the National Archives.

Wichita Falls, TX: The City Council proclaimed December 15 Bill of Rights Day, celebrating the 65th anniversary of the date President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Bill of Rights Day in 1941. A proclamation event honored the students of Wichita Falls Independent School District who took part in a Freedom Week Bill of Rights competition organized by the Wichita Falls Bill of Rights Defense Committee.

Resolutions and Proclamations

Congratulations to the many communities that passed Bill of Rights Day resolutions and proclamations in December! The resolutions are posted online at:
http://bordc.org/involved/proclamation.php

  • Yolo County, California
  • Alamosa, Colorado
  • Boulder, Colorado
  • Denver, Colorado
  • San Miguel County, Colorado
  • Iowa City, Iowa
  • Johnson County, Iowa
  • North Liberty, Iowa
  • Carrboro, North Carolina
  • Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  • Orange County, North Carolina
  • Wichita Falls, TX

Articles and Opinion Editorials

Among the articles and opinion editorials written by grassroots volunteers on or before Bill of Rights Day were these:

Local Congressional Actions

Many allies joined together in November and December to defend the Bill of Rights. Joining in coalition locally, they are having a national effect.

Grassroots Joins With National Groups to Stop Telecom Immunity

A letter to Congress sponsored by the ACLU, BORDC and other national allies opposing immunity for telecommunication corporations and Internet service providers that may have violated state and federal laws by providing customer data to the National Security Agency without warrants has achieved its objective! The Rubber Stamp Congress adjourned without immunizing the corporations, which would have made a real investigation of the program more difficult. The following local and regional groups signed on to the letter:

Bandon Bill of Rights Committee, OR; Bangor Area Bill of Rights Defense Committee; Bill of Rights Committee of Greater Dallas, TX; Bill of Rights Defense Committee of Tacoma, WA; Bill of Rights Supporters of Fort Collins, CO; Brookline PAX, MA; Cape Cod Bill of Rights Defense Committee, MA; Carolina Peace Resource Center, SC; Chicagoland Coalition for Civil Liberties, IL; Committee for Peace and Human Rights, MA; Columbia Action, CT; Connecticut River Valley Council on Public Policy, VT; Coupeville Peace & Reconciliation, WA; The Diogenes Society, NY; Durham Bill of Rights Committee, NC; Glendale Bill of Rights Defense Committee, CA; Hate Free Zone of Washington, WA; Idaho Patriots, ID; Justice Not War, Eugene, OR; Lane County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, OR; Mendocino Bill of Rights Defense Committee, CA; Mercer County Coalition for Civil Liberties, NJ; Nevada Campaign to Defeat the Patriot Act, NV; Oregon PeaceWorks, OR; Oregon Women's Action for New Directions, OR; David Boje of PeaceAware, NM; Pioneer Valley Coalition Against Secrecy and Torture, MA; Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Committee, PA; Prince George’s Bill of Rights Defense Committee, MD; Progressives in Action, NY; Reno AntiWar Coalition, NV; Rochester Civil Liberties Coalition, NY; Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Boulder, CO; Rural Organizing Project, OR; Sacramento Group 283, Amnesty International, CA; SAGE, Amherst, MA; Sanctuary for Freedom/Civil Liberties Campaign, Kansas City, MO; Social Workers for Peace and Justice, MA; Colorado Peace & Justice Coalition, Durango, CO; Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability, MA; Tompkins County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, NY; Virginia Bill of Rights Coalition, VA; Women For: Orange County, CA.

Congressional Lobbying

Immediately following the mid-term elections, Mercer County Coalition for Civil Liberties (MCCCL) held conference calls with Senators Lautenberg and Menendez’s staff to press the senators to move forward in the next session to restore liberties eroded since 9-11. MCCCL members are now focusing their lobbying efforts on key members of the New Jersey delegation to the House of Representatives.

For information on organizing a Congressional call or meeting in your district, see BORDC’s Workshop on building relationships with Congress.

Resolutions

Brighton, NY: Members of the Rochester Civil Liberties Coalition brought a resolution before the Brighton Town Council on December 6. Members of the community turned out to support the resolution and present testimony along with an ACLU attorney and a Professor of Law from the University of Rochester. "We want Brighton to make it clear they will not voluntarily violate the civil rights of its residents, including legal aliens,” said Nancy Braiman, a coalition coordinator and Brighton resident. The Council is currently considering the language of the resolution. See coverage of the event in the Messenger Post.

Essex County, NY: Members of the Diogenes Society and the Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Citizens met with the Essex County Board of Supervisors to present their concerns regarding the government’s handling of the War on Terror and its attacks on the Bill of Rights, as well as their own efforts to pass resolutions in Essex County towns calling for congressional investigations. The presentation was well-received by the County Board: One supervisor related the experience of a constituent, a fishing guide, who was followed and stopped by a plain-clothes officer in the U.S. Border Patrol while looking for fishing spots. Another supervisor told the activists to draft a specific resolution and the Board would “take it to Washington, DC” for the March 2007 legislative conference of the National Association of County Administrators. See coverage of the meeting in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

Iowa City and North Liberty, IA: Johnson County residents have convinced their county board to consider a human rights ordinance that will assure county residents the following:

“It is unlawful to discriminate in employment, credit, public accommodation and education on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. In addition, discrimination in housing based upon race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, familial status, presence or absence of dependents, disability, gender identity or public source of income is prohibited.”

Torture and Rendition

Durham and Orange County, NC: The Durham and Orange County BORDCs have been active since November 2005 with the coalition group NC Stop Torture Now (NC STN) in opposing the CIA "Torture Taxi" flights of Aero Contractors. NC STN also includes peace groups (CodePink, Peace Action), Muslim groups, Christian and Interfaith groups, and the Wake County ACLU. Actions have included civil disobedience (14 arrests, case dismissed on appeal) and frequent vigils in Johnston County and in Raleigh over the past year, including at Governor Easley's mansion. They have held meetings with Easley's Chief of Staff, and other government officials, thus far without action taken. They also organized a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation signed by 12 State Legislators asking for an investigation of Aero and a second letter will be sent in January, signed by some 20 Legislators.

Detentions

Sima Fallahi: BORDC activists in Carrboro have taken up the cause of a local woman, Sima Fallahi, originally from Iran, who was arrested and whisked away due to an expired visa. She is still incarcerated in Charlotte, where she was denied access to a lawyer for some time. After her arrest, her 11-year-old daughter came home from school to an empty house. The activists' outreach to NC Senator David Price led him to intervene, at least temporarily preventing Falahi’s transfer to an out of state detention facility. They are also raising funds to help pay for legal representation. For more information, see http://www.carrboro.com/sima.

Khaled El-Masri: December 16 and 17, NC Stop Torture Now (STN) co-hosted Steven Watt, ACLU lawyer for rendition survivor Khaled El-Masri, in Raleigh for an evening presentation and a morning press conference at the State Legislature. Six members of NC STN went to Richmond, VA, on November 28 to support Mr. El-Masri's appeal (his lawsuit names Aero and other rendition companies, and was dismissed earlier this year on grounds of “national security,” despite his case being known worldwide). Read more about Mr. El-Masri at Democracy Now!

Dr. Rafil Dhafir: In last month’s newsletter we spotlighted the case of Dr. Dhafir, who was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for evading the now defunct Iraq sanctions in order to provide humanitarian assistance. Dr. Dhafir, who raised so much money and contributed $1.25 million of his own funds to help the innocent victims of the Iraq sanctions, has been bankrupted by the government's persecution. Supporters are trying to raise funds to help Dr. Dhafir appeal his conviction. If you can help please visit: http://www.dhafirtrial.net.

Also shortly after our November newsletter was published, Dr. Dhafir’s wife and brother went to visit him in prison only to find that he had been moved over 700 miles away, without any notice, to Terre Haute, IN. However, the conditions in Terra Haute are better than where he had previously been incarcerated, so Dr. Dhafir asks that activists do not make waves about the transfer for fear that he may be returned to a place where he would again be held in lockdown all of the time.

What You Can Do

Write a letter to Dr. Dhafir to let him know that he is not alone and not forgotten:

Rafil A. Dhafir
11921-052
P.O. Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808

More information about Dr. Dhafir can be found at: http://www.forusa.org/fellowship/nov-dec06/KatherineHughes.html

Check to see if there is a detention center in or near your community. Talk to Paul DeMarco or Hope Marston about organizing locally to raise public awareness.

Targeted Communities

Boise, ID: During Ramadan in 2004 (Oct 16 to Nov 14), Boise residents banded together to protect the community's Muslims from unfounded surveillance, questioning, and harassment by breaking fast together every week at the local mosque. For a time, this successfully intimidated the local FBI agent and Boise Police Department Criminal Intelligence Unit agent to stop their routine of "dropping in." But later, law enforcement shifted its attention to the mosque president, Farqan Mehmood, questioning him for several months. Though there are no known reports of surveillance or interviews today, Boise residents have begun planning a meeting with the chief of police to let him know they are watching and will not stand by while the police spy on and intimidate their Muslim neighbors.

In 2001, many Muslims in Boise stopped attending the mosque when the surveillance began, and even today some are still too intimidated to attend. Community organizers are seeking to turn that around and make Boise safe to practice religious freedom.

Rising Up to Squash REAL ID

Oregon allies gathered in early December to discuss forming a statewide coalition aimed at building local resistance to REAL ID. The Rural Organizing Project, a grassroots group devoted to mobilizing rural Oregonians for peace and social justice, brought together a broad range of groups, including labor, immigrant-rights, and civil liberties groups to strategize about a statewide campaign aimed at convincing the state legislature to refuse to cooperate with the federal plan to issue a national identification card. The REAL ID Act of 2005 doesn’t provide funding for states to reconfigure its driver’s licenses to meet federal requirements for a national ID card. There are still no specific federal regulations for states to comply with yet. And REAL ID raises considerable concerns about privacy, data-mining, and identity theft. Read more about REAL ID, here and here.

Resources

The American Civil Liberties Union has created a website for local organizing on the issue in all 50 states: http://www.realnightmare.org

What You Can Do

Join with allies in your state to begin exploring local response to REAL ID. This may also be a good opportunity to approach state legislators with a Bill of Rights resolution. Contact BORDC, East Region Organizer Paul Demarco or West Region Organizer Hope Marston to get involved.

Looking Forward to 2007

In November and December, BORDC held two conference calls with nearly 50 grassroots volunteers to discuss 2007 strategies. The conversations were thoughtful and articulate, and we emerged with a clear call for Congress to investigate the U.S. government’s laws and policies and how they have been used in the “war on terror,” and to work to pass legislation that will restore our Bill of Rights. Here are some of the grassroots ideas for moving that mandate forward in our communities:

  • Wall of Shame: Use photos of people who have been hurt by post-9/11 policies to humanize the casualties. Mount the photographs on cards, and string the cards from tree to tree for an outside exhibit.
  • Little Guantánamo: Broaden the detention/torture issue to include local detention centers. See BORDC's list of detention centers, and strategies for raising public awareness about the abuses there, as activists in Tacoma, WA, and Passaic, NJ, have done.
  • State of the Union editorials: Bush will deliver his State of Union address in the third week of January. We already know largely what Bush’s message will be. Activists should begin working on letters to the editor and Op-ed pieces now so that we can get them published in local papers the day after Bush’s speech. See BORDC’s web resources on drafting letters to the editor and our resources on meeting with your local newspaper’s editorial board.
  • Support phone companies that resist giving phone records to the government without court oversight. Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information.
  • New Video Resources: BORDC is working on producing 25-minute film segments on the loss of civil liberties in post-9/11 America. We will be making these available to organizers on DVD and on the web for local showings and events.
  • Reach out to local religious organizations and churches on torture issues. BORDC activists in North Carolina are working with a spectrum of organizations, including local religious groups, to force CIA contractors that participate in the illegal extraordinary renditions program out of their state. See the National Religious Campaign Against Torture website.
  • Pass new resolutions: BORDC has put together some model language for passing local resolutions to address the latest governmental attacks on our liberties, including NSA domestic spying, the Military Commissions Act and calling for investigations of government abuses of our freedoms.

 

News Briefs

Human Rights Abuse Database—José Padilla

When BORDC unveils its Human Rights Abuse Database in early 2007, you’ll be able to search its memory banks for stories of local people and national figures who have been denied basic human rights in the U.S. government’s post-9/11 "war on terror." Until that unveiling, we commit space in this newsletter each month to one individual whose life has been irrevocably altered by U.S. government policies.

José Padilla was arrested in Chicago in 2002 and was labeled by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "dirty bomber," accused of planning to unleash a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S. He was thrown into a military brig and named an "enemy combatant." Padilla was denied several basic constitutional rights—among them, the right to an attorney, even though he is a U.S. citizen. Two quotes tell the story of how the U.S. government has broken Padilla and violated his basic human rights:

Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby (USN), Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, writing about “enemy combatant” José Padilla:

"Any insertion of counsel into the subject-interrogator relationship…—even for a limited duration or for a specific purpose—can undo months of work and may permanently shut down the interrogation process.... Only after such time as Padilla has perceived that help is not on the way can the United States reasonably expect to obtain all possible intelligence information from Padilla."

December 2006, Psychologist Patricia Zapf testified that José Padilla has become too impaired to assist in his own trial because he:

  • "reports being suspicious of everyone, including his attorneys, and stated that he does not know who he can and cannot trust. He indicated he was unsure of whether his attorneys might really be federal agents posing as his attorneys."
  • "appears convinced at times that no matter what happens he will be returned to the brig, even if he prevails in the current case."
  • "was certain that nobody could help him, that he could not be rescued from his current situation."

Whether Padilla is guilty or innocent it is clear the U.S. government is guilty of exceptional human rights violations—violations, which could be leveled against any of us, at any time.

Editor: Nancy Talanian, Director
Managing Editor: Meredith Gray, Administrator
Contributing Writers:
Hope Marston, West Region Organizer
Paul DeMarco, Interim East Region Organizer

Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Inc.
8 Bridge St., Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060

Web: http://www.bordc.org/
Email: info@bordc.org
Telephone: 413-582-0110
Fax: 413-582-0116

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