[Nettime-nl] nieuwe regels over detentie en deportatie van mogelijke doch onbewezen terroristen

[ar'an noor <ar_anwen@yahoo.com>]

Justice Drafts New Rules for Deportation 
Terrorist Suspects Would Be Removed 
 
 
 By Dan Eggen and Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 19, 2001; Page A01 



The Justice Department has drafted legislation
allowing the U.S. attorney general to lock up
foreigners deemed to be terrorist suspects and order
them deported without presenting any evidence.

The only chance for an appeal would occur when a
suspect was facing removal from the country, according
to the draft, which has prompted alarm among
immigration advocates and civil libertarians. Some
said they feared the government was responding to a
national tragedy by infringing on constitutional
rights.

The proposed anti-terrorism legislation came as
investigators raced to hunt down suspected accomplices
in last week's suicide assaults on New York and
Washington, and as Cabinet members warned that more
attacks are possible in the days ahead.

A U.S. government official said yesterday that one of
the hijackers, Mohamed Atta, was seen meeting with an
Iraqi intelligence official in Europe earlier this
year -- the first hint of possible Iraqi involvement
in the plot.

Members of the House and Senate intelligence
committees also were told by White House officials in
a classified briefing that there is reason to believe
that further terrorist acts are being planned, a
congressional source said. However, the government
does not have specific information about targets or
dates, according to law enforcement officials.

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft confirmed that the
FBI was investigating whether other airplanes had been
targeted for hijackings, in addition to the four that
crashed Sept. 11 into the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon and the Pennsylvania countryside.

Earlier this week, Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), a member
of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said
terrorists could try to contaminate water supplies or
destroy bridges. Last week's attacks were "part of a
larger plan with other terrorism acts, not necessarily
hijacking of airplanes," he said.

As part of a "concerted national assault" on
terrorism, Ashcroft announced yesterday that he has
created an anti-terrorism task force with
representatives from every U.S. attorney's office in
the country. He said he also has revised internal
rules allowing the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service to detain suspected illegal immigrants for 48
hours, instead of one day, before deciding whether to
charge them.

INS rules already allow any person who does not have
legal permission to be in the United States to be
detained for an unlimited time in "extraordinary
circumstances," which Justice officials said would
apply to the terrorism probe.

Ashcroft said the INS has detained 75 people in
connection with the investigation on suspected
immigration violations. In addition, the FBI has
assembled a list of more than 190 people it wants to
question. At least six people have been arrested as
material witnesses, and a federal grand jury has been
convened in White Plains, N.Y., to hear evidence in
the investigation, sources said.

Immigration advocates said the large number of
detentions and the proposed legislation being drafted
by Ashcroft were troubling. According to the draft,
provided by immigration advocates, the director of the
INS could recommend to the attorney general that a
foreigner here be "certified" as someone who might
facilitate acts of terrorism. The person could then be
detained indefinitely and deported.

The measure would apply both to visitors and to
permanent legal residents holding so-called green
cards.

Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association, said the proposed
deportation rules were more severe than legislation
passed in 1996 allowing expanded use of "secret
evidence" that does not have to be shown to the
suspect. The proposed legislation would not require
any evidence to be submitted to a court.

"This proposed legislation is basically making a
doormat of the Constitution," said Mike Maggio, an
immigration lawyer. "It would permit the INS to serve
as prosecutor, judge and jury with no judicial
review."

Although there appears to be broad support on Capitol
Hill for Ashcroft's overall package of anti-terrorism
proposals, congressional aides cautioned that
constitutional concerns would play a role in the
debate. "The last thing we want to do is rashly pass
something that could be tossed out by the courts,"
said David Carle, spokesman for Sen. Patrick J. Leahy
(D-Vt.).

Justice Department spokesman Dan Nelson declined to
discuss the proposed legislation, which could be sent
to Congress as early as today.



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