Activists, lawyers, students, teachers, union members, government officials, and judges will welcome this thoroughly researched, comprehensive examination of human rights violations in the wake of 9/11. Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute Executive Director Ann Fagan Ginger has created an accessible, well-organized reference work divided into six parts:
- Part I, “The Mobilization of Shame,” describes executive orders and new laws violating basic rights, and citizen reactions, to add up the real score in the War on Terrorism.
- Part II, “Where the People and their Lawyers Can Go to Redress Grievances,” spells out the complaint process through the little known Office of Inspector General, and in U.S. federal and state courts.
- Part III, “What the Government Is Committed and Required To Do in the United Nations and the Organization of American States,” describes the reporting process and how it has brought about improvements in many countries, such as new treatments for AIDS.
- Part IV, “Report on Human Rights Violations,” forms the bulk of the book. It describes all the relevant facts in 184 reports on 30 types of violations. Activists will find all the facts they need and lawyers can reference the specific laws being violated by government officials, military personnel, agents, and contractors.
- Part V, “Text of Petitions, Resolutions, Ordinances,” spells out what has been proposed, and adopted, since 9/11 to stop violations.
- Part VI, “Text of Laws Violated and Ignored,” provides the language of the U.S. Constitution, Bill Of Rights, Articles in the UN Charter, the Convention Against Torture, the Geneva Conventions, and other human rights and international law treaties the U.S. has ratified or signed.
This is an indispensable tool for citizens and lawyers defending civil liberties in the era of the Patriot Act and the War on Terrorism.
“Activists, politicians, students and human rights researchers alike will welcome [this] important analysis…a hard-hitting, factual account which describes executive orders, new laws, new complaint processes and new reporting processes involved in civil rights since 9/11, drawing some important connections between civil liberties and the legal process. Any defending civil liberties must have [this book] close at hand: it not only documents changes and events, but packs in reports on 30 types of violations and refers to specific laws being violated by the government, military and their agents.”- Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review
"This report is a veritable roadmap to the countless ways in which the Bush administration has used lies and the politics of fear to assault the Bill of Rights, trash human rights, and launch a phony 'War on Terror.'... demands to be read by every concerned citizen." John Conyers Jr., Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee
US House of Representatives
“This compendium is important in multiple ways. It extensively documents abuses that merit the careful attention of citizens concerned with freedom, human rights, and democracy. It reviews the documentary and legal basis essential for confronting these crucial issues. And it provides concrete suggestions about actions that can be taken to preserve and extend the legacy of rights that have been won over centuries of struggle. These contributions are of great value to concerned citizens.” Noam Chomsky
Institute Professor, MIT
“This is an immensely valuable book for all Americans concerned about their constitutional rights in the midst of a supposed 'war on terrorism.' Ann Fagan Ginger has pulled together a shocking compendium of human rights violations, and at the same time has given us practical tools, legal and political, for defending our liberties.” Howard Zinn, Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Boston University
Book Binding: Paperback
Pages: 471
ISBN: 1-59102-279-7
Shipping Weight: 1lbs
Author Bio:
Ann Fagan Ginger (San Francisco, CA) is the founder, former president (1964-1988), and the current executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute. She lectures frequently on human rights for the ACLU, National Lawyers Guild, United Nations Association, and many other organizations.
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