Community Members > Cynthia Rosenberry > More Words to Live By   [Community Blogs]

. for voting against the Torture Bill (Military Commissions Act of 2006):

Nashville Office
Phone: 615-736-5295

Washington D.C. Office
Phone: 202-225-4311

cooper.house.gov/email.htm

Jim Cooper was the ONLY member of our TN delegation to do the right thing. Of Course Wamp voted for it. Guess he forgot to ask WWJD.again. But then, all the rubberstampers must scramble to enact legislation retroactive to save their own hides for past actions that possibly led to violations of both U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions, mustn't they? No accountability in government any more. Just shameful.

From Amnesty International:

"Our representatives in Congress have just passed legislation that:

1.Establishes a new judicial system to try a wide variety of people in military commissions that lack the minimal safeguards regarding coerced evidence may deny the right of the accused to examine evidence against them. A person could be sentenced to death under this flawed system.

2.Strips prisoners in Guantanamo – and other alleged “enemy combatants” in U.S. custody — of the ability to file a writ of habeas corpus and challenge their detention. Many of these prisoners have been held for almost five years without charges or meaningful judicial review

3.Expands the definition of ‘unlawful enemy combatant” to allow the U.S. government to detain people – on or off the battlefield – indefinitely without charge or access to judicial review for an act as minor as writing a check.

4.Provides retroactive immunity to those who may have been implicated in creating policies or participating in abuse and other acts that most of us would consider torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

We appreciate the efforts of the members of Congress who voted against this legislation and in favor of human rights, the rule of law, and our standing in the international community. They took a principled stand. The first thing that we should do is thank the leaders who stood up for the America we believe in."