The Daily Background

In honor of the President signing a horrific bill which not only violates the US Constitution but also international human rights standards, I thought I’d repost the above video of a Vietnam vet recalling in 1973 torture he witnessed being performed by US Marines during the war.

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 revokes the right of habeas corpus for anybody identified as an enemy combatant (and the President has the power to declare anyone an enemy combatant). The right to habeas corpus (challenging the legality of your detention) is expressly guaranteed by the US Constitution for every person, regardless of citizenship, except when the US is being invaded by a foreign power… which we’re not.

The bill also legalizes certain types of torture and makes tortured confessions permissible evidence in court. For more info about why the bill the President signed today is unconstitutional, check here (and here for how the bill violates international human rights standards).

Filed under: Human Rights, Video, Z-TDB Blog