Freedom to detain?

VOICING concern over the US government’s policy of detaining suspects of Sept 11 terrorist attacks without trial, Amnesty International says there are some 1,200 non-citizens under detention whose basic human rights have been violated. They have not been told why they are being held and not being allowed to consult a lawyer; some are in shackles, confined to prolonged solitary imprisonment, and even extended cruel treatment. The US justice department refuses to release any information regarding these detainees, depriving them of the basic right to challenge their detention. AI gathered the information about the detained foreigners, and how they are being treated in American prisons, from their friends and relatives.

Some of the people have been under detention for several months now, without the US authorities bringing them to trial even under a new law that gives non-citizens fewer rights than citizens. It seems that, under the ongoing security drive and measures applied by the US authorities, foreigners detained on suspicion are simply assumed guilty without having been given the right to prove themselves otherwise. This is in sharp contrast to the law applied to US citizens. It not only gives them prompt access to a lawyer but also assumes them to be innocent until proved guilty. AI is right in warning against a situation where it sees certain governments indulging in a “security overdrive” and exposing foreigners living in these countries to human rights’ violations. After the release of the AI report the other day, we now know that this is already happening in the US. It is now up to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and rights bodies within the US to take serious notice of these detentions in a country that does not tire of pointing fingers at others for similar violations.