Military Comissions Act of 2006
Today, we reject the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
WE REJECT that the Act subjects non-citizens, including legal residents of the United States and foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal.
WE REJECT that the Act gives the President the power to apply broadly the label of “enemy combatant,” and to limit the rights of those who bear that label.
WE REJECT that the Act repudiates a half-century of international precedent by allowing the President to decide secretly and unilaterally what abusive interrogation methods he considers permissible.
WE REJECT that the Act denies non-citizen detainees in U.S. custody the basic right to challenge their imprisonment, effectively permitting them to be held forever, with no access to the courts.
WE REJECT that the Act limits the power of the courts to review this new system, except verdicts by military commissions and sham tribunals, and that the Act limits appeals and bars legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions.
WE REJECT that the Act permits coerced evidence-evidence obtained through abusive interrogations-to be used against a defendant in military commission proceedings.
WE REJECT that the Act creates a definition of torture that is unacceptably narrow and that the bill effectively eliminates the idea of rape as torture.
Any policies that permit torture, inhumane treatment and indefinite detention are shocking and morally intolerable. Lack of judicial oversight allows torture, abusive treatment and unjustifiable detention to continue without challenge.
Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear. It degrades everyone involved – policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation’s most cherished ideals.
We reject the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
With thanks to eiredrake for locating and posting it.
I would encourage all who read this to post it anywhere you can.
An Aging Trans Woman 
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