HRW: Oppose martial law for Baghdad

[maddezmom]

NEW YORK, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Human Rights Watch warned new martial law provisions for Baghdad could open the door to abuse by the military.

In a statement issued Friday, the organization said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's plan to curb escalating violence in the Iraqi capital grants military commanders sweeping powers to arrest people and restrict basic freedoms of speech and association.


~snip~

The martial law provisions announced by the Baghdad's commander of military operations have no time limits nor are there any details on how the regulations will be implemented.


The decree also provides for broad use of the death penalty, a punishment Human Rights Watch opposes.


link: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/20070223-084102-5964r/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Is it me, or do you also get the feeling they're testing martial law

on Bagdad before trying it here on "the Homeland"?

[maddezmom]

2. was thinking the same: NYT:Making Martial Law Easier

A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. So it was with a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration’s behest that makes it easier for a president to override local control of law enforcement and declare martial law.

The provision, signed into law in October, weakens two obscure but important bulwarks of liberty. One is the doctrine that bars military forces, including a federalized National Guard, from engaging in law enforcement. Called posse comitatus, it was enshrined in law after the Civil War to preserve the line between civil government and the military. The other is the Insurrection Act of 1807, which provides the major exemptions to posse comitatus. It essentially limits a president’s use of the military in law enforcement to putting down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion, where a state is violating federal law or depriving people of constitutional rights.

The newly enacted provisions upset this careful balance. They shift the focus from making sure that federal laws are enforced to restoring public order. Beyond cases of actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any “other condition.”

Changes of this magnitude should be made only after a thorough public airing. But these new presidential powers were slipped into the law without hearings or public debate. The president made no mention of the changes when he signed the measure, and neither the White House nor Congress consulted in advance with the nation’s governors.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/opinion/19mon3.html

[PA Democrat]

3. "The decree also provides for broad use of the death penalty"

That sounds chilling. Along with restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,it sure makes all of Bush's claims about bringing "democracy" to Iraq a sick joke.