Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.
The High Value Interrogation Group:
Over a week ago, Abu Anas al-Libi, 49, who was wanted for his alleged role in the August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, was captured by the US Army Delta Forces in Tripoli. Al-Libi was then interrogated aboard the USS San Antonio for a week. At the time of his capture, U.S. officials said the plan was to keep al-Libi on board the ship for weeks so the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) could question him without advising him of U.S. constitutional rights. However, Al-Libi stopped eating and drinking regularly on board the ship, and was flown to New York, where he was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Obama administration's detention and interrogation tactics have raised questions about using "law of war" powers to circumvent the safeguards of the U.S. criminal justice system. Hina Shamsi, the Director of the ACLU’s director of the National Security Project states, “This is a man who has been charged with very serious crimes in our criminal justice system. He should immediately be transferred to civilian custody, brought before a judge, and yes, given his right to counsel … Imagine this. Imagine if any other country claimed the right to sweep in, capture someone, hold them in military custody and hold them in this kind of interrogation detention. What would we say? Is this the model that this administration wants to leave behind? I don’t think so.” For International Law Q&A on the Case of Abu Anas al-Libi, click here.
Sex trafficking in the United States:
According to the State Department’s 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report, there are 46,000 victims of trafficking worldwide. Sex trafficking pervades numerous cultures and regions of the world, including the United States. This week, Nicholas Kristof, who has in the past reported on sex trafficking in Cambodia, India, Pakistan, and the Phillipines, focuses his New York Times column on prostitution in Nashville. Kristof highlights the work of organizations committed to assisting women at risk – End Slavery Tennessee and Thistle Farms. It is services like these that are created to serve victims of sex trafficking - not more laws against prostitution - that will help to create safer and more stable communities.
