My letter to Sen. Mel Martinez (R) Florida re: torture legislation

[bear425]

***It's not going to mean a thing, but I had to try anyway***
Mr. Martinez (Staffer: Please forward to Mr. Martinez):
Thank you for your reply to my recent letter regarding the treatment and prosecution of terrorist combatants captured in the global war on terror.

I have included here an article regarding this subject that I believe will interest and, hopefully, enlighten you. Please read it in its entirety with an open mind.

Mr. Martinez, you have taken an oath to protect and defend The Constitution of the United States. Surely, you must know that this legislation will not only retroactively immunize the CIA interrogators, it will also, which I believe is the ultimate goal, protect the President and his administration from prosecution for war crimes. Do you really believe this tactic is in the best interest of the country and the American people?

Thank you in advance,
**Bear425*

http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/68705,CST-EDT-REF23B.article
Bush seeks retroactive immunity for violating War Crimes Act

September 23, 2006
BY ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN
Thirty-two years ago, President Gerald Ford created a political firestorm by pardoning former President Richard Nixon of all crimes he may have committed in Watergate -- and lost his election as a result. Now, President Bush, to avoid a similar public outcry, is quietly trying to pardon himself of any crimes connected with the torture and mistreatment of U.S. detainees.
The ''pardon'' is buried in Bush's proposed legislation to create a new kind of military tribunal for cases involving top al-Qaida operatives. The ''pardon'' provision has nothing to do with the tribunals. Instead, it guts the War Crimes Act of 1996, a federal law that makes it a crime, in some cases punishable by death, to mistreat detainees in violation of the Geneva Conventions and makes the new, weaker terms of the War Crimes Act retroactive to 9/11.

Press accounts of the provision have described it as providing immunity for CIA interrogators. But its terms cover the president and other top officials because the act applies to any U.S. national.

Avoiding prosecution under the War Crimes Act has been an obsession of this administration since shortly after 9/11. In a January 2002 memorandum to the president, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales pointed out the problem of prosecution for detainee mistreatment under the War Crimes Act. He notes that given the vague language of the statute, no one could predict what future ''prosecutors and independent counsels'' might do if they decided to bring charges under the act. As an author of the 1978 special prosecutor statute, I know that independent counsels (who used to be called ''special prosecutors'' prior to the statute's reauthorization in 1994) aren't for low-level government officials such as CIA interrogators, but for the president and his Cabinet. It is clear that Gonzales was concerned about top administration officials.

Gonzales also understood that the specter of prosecution could hang over top administration officials involved in detainee mistreatment throughout their lives. Because there is no statute of limitations in cases where death resulted from the mistreatment, prosecutors far into the future, not appointed by Bush or beholden to him, would be making the decisions whether to prosecute.

-snip-

Elizabeth Holtzman, a former New York congresswoman, is co-author with Cynthia L. Cooper of The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens.

***** Here is the letter I got from him today *****

Below is a response to the recent comments I received from you:


Dear *Bear425*:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about the treatment and prosecution of terrorist combatants captured in the global war on terror. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to respond to your concerns.

This war, which is unlike any other conflict our nation has fought before, has presented our country with many unprecedented and difficult choices. In particular, the debate surrounding the proper treatment and prosecution of captured terrorists has focused our attention on the fundamental problem of how to balance our desire to treat all people with proper dignity with our need to prevent future terrorist attacks.

This is a crucial debate. The strength of America depends on the preservation of our values. At its core, our society respects the dignity of every human life. Our nation can never support the use of torture, even when dealing with truly evil enemies. All sides of this debate agree that torture is unacceptable and that basic human rights must be preserved and protected at all levels of our government and military. We also agree that terrorists who are detained in this war should be afforded an appropriate legal process. However, terrorist detainees simply cannot and should not be afforded the same rights and process that our citizens enjoy in our courts.

As you are aware, the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that the procedures used to prosecute terrorist combatants must comply with U.S. statutes and the terms of the Geneva Conventions. As a result of this ruling, Congress has undertaken the task of passing legislation clarifying the procedures under which terrorist combatants are prosecuted and setting clear guidance on the treatment these individuals receive while they are in U.S. custody. By setting clear standards, this legislation will protect U.S. personnel from prosecution for war crimes based on vague and conflicting international interpretations of our military’s requirements under the Geneva Conventions. However, the legislation does not attempt to redefine the terms of the Geneva Conventions.

As we consider these procedures, we must balance two very important American principles: security and liberty. Our country must respect the human dignity of all individuals, but we must also remember that the terrorist combatants that have been captured have been engaged, in varying degrees, in an ongoing, violent and destructive war against the United States—a war in which the terrorists do not differentiate between civilians and military personnel. Therefore, it is important that these combatants are tried in congressionally approved military commissions that afford a fair and reliable prosecution that is consistent with our nation’s character and national security interests. I believe the legislation crafted by the Senate, which has been carefully negotiated between the White House and the Congress, will do that.

Please know that as we continue to debate critical issues in the war on terror, I will keep your concerns in mind. Again, thank you very much for sharing your opinions with me. If you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. In addition, for more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator


**Note: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL. If you would like to reply to this message, please contact me through my website at http://martinez.senate.gov.

[bullimiami]

1. youre right, it will fall on deaf ears. did you send one to nelson?

[bear425]

2. No. I thought I'd try an (R) since I rarely get anything from Nelson.n/t