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U.S. Civil Liberties on PBS

Regarding the upcoming March 5, 2004 "Now with Bill Moyers" show and an interview with Brian Terrell of Iowa's Catholic Peace Ministry:

Here are some details and background worth mentioning --

I consider it high time the public broadcast media provide coverage of what happened last November 2003 when local peace activists demonstrated at Camp Dodge and especially analysis of what ensued. The four grand jury summonses issued three months later were clearly designed to chill peace activism in Des Moines and to scare Drake administrators. But despite a handful of articles in the leading East Coast print media and the Des Moines Register, the story has not received the type of international coverage it deserves.

You might argue that this low profile is because the whole legal matter was dropped. But I sense that, in the event a grand jury actually handed down indictments, the inevitable long wait before matters came to court for a trial would cause the media to "chill out" and unplug the spotlights. I am not reading tea leaves here, but taking a sounding on just how shallow the waters of progressivism in America are currently running on the broad scale of things. In the late 60s five of us were indicted in Iowa City for conspiracy by a grand jury. But within a month, despite the fact that convictions could lead to 3-year jail terms, attention by the media evaporated. Nobody wanted to be reminded. All of us were in jail a few days (without being charged) and some of us sat in jail an additional two weeks when a judge refused to accept bail for earlier convictions from previous demonstrations. By that short time-span the matter had completely fizzled although it hung over our heads like a sword for three or more years and we had all simply gone on about our normal-for-the-sixties lives.

Here are some specific details about the "Now with Bill Moyers" show, now that the interview has been rescheduled: Moyers will run at 9 pm Central Standard Time (CST) on Channel 11 locally, but that does not mean it runs at the same time or same date in all the cities where the Iowa Peace Network's emails will be landing in someone's in-box.

In Montreal it can be seen on Mountain Lake PBS, Channel 57, Burlington, VT at 10:00 pm Eastern Time. KCTS Seattle, WA will run the show March 5 at 9 pm, but in Miami, FLA the show runs on WPBT Channel 2 March 7 at 10:30 am Eastern Time.

The best way to get a sneak preview of what is coming up with Moyers is to sign up for the program's newsletter by email at http://www.pbs.org/now/newsletter.html . You might want to keep up with your individual PBS station's programming announcements on their own website as well.

Mar 5, 2004, 10:00 pm, by the way, is also the time 'Now with Bill Moyers' will air at KQED in San Francisco. KQED, by the way, has one of the most interesting public broadcasting website's (http://www.kqed.org/ is worth browsing, much meatier than Iowa Public Television's effort at http://www.iptv.org/ where you find no local coverage of the grand jury intimidation). KQED at least covers civil liberties issues regularly. But none of the PBS sites I have seen recently are adequately covering these February 2004 attacks on peace activism in Iowa.

I end this message with a postscript pasted below showing that the show Moyers hosts has been exemplary in covering the civil liberties side to the assaults currently being carried out globally by the U.S. against people who were better off before they were 'liberated.'

-- RJP

Postscript

One public broadcasting bright spot for clarity recently was when interviewer JuJu Chang met with guest John Cole (a professor of law at Georgetown University who has been called one of America’s greatest voices for civil liberties) on Moyers' show. Professor Cole stated the following:

"There have actually been 5,000… over 5,000 people detained since September 11th in anti-terrorism initiatives undertaken by the Justice Department. And of those 5,000, only three were charged with any crime related to terrorism.

"And of those three, only one was convicted, and not actually of engaging in terrorist activity or even planning terrorist activity, but of conspiring to support some unidentified terrorist acts in the unidentified future. So you got 5,000 people locked up on pretexts who had nothing to do with terrorism.

What it does do is alienate the very community that has been targeted."

-- See the transcript at http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/civilliberties.html)

Dustup over dissent in the heartland

A good synopsis on the use of a grand jury summons to intimidate Iowa peace activists in a period of Homeland Security fear-mongering . . .

Bill Berkowitz
WorkingForChange
02.13.04

LINK to text as cited on Friends' (Quakers) Website
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=16433

February in Iowa, like most places across the country, promises little. There's still nearly two months left of winter, and the state flower -- the wild prairie rose -- is months away from its June re-emergence. When the high-profile Democratic caucuses ended weeks ago with a surprise victory for Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the national media quickly pulled up stakes and moved on.

Recent developments in Des Moines, however, once again focused the nation's attention back on the Hawkeye state. While it may not have been as big an event as the University of Iowa Hawkeyes vs. the Iowa State Cyclones, the rights of the state's citizens to organize and protest an unpopular war without interference by the government came under fire in the waning days of Iowa's winter.

When students, faculty and concerned community members gathered at an anti-war conference sponsored by the Drake University Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, on the Drake campus in Des Moines on November 15, little did they expect that some would later become subject to a government investigation and recipients of Grand Jury subpoenas more than two months later.

The forum, titled "Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home!" held workshops on U.S. foreign policy and the economic roots of terrorism. The next day a small group of protesters gathered outside the Iowa National Guard headquarters in Johnson. About a dozen demonstrators were arrested, including one woman charged with assault. The woman, a librarian at nearby Grinnell College, claims she merely went limp and resisted arrest.

In early February, a federal judge ordered officials at the University turn over records about the forum, a ruling, according to the Washington Post, which may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades. In addition, subpoenas were served by a local sheriff's deputy who works on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force on four of the activists who attended the forum.

The four activists were Wendy Vasquez, a member of the American Friends Service Committee, who visited Iraq in 2002; Elton Davis and Patti McKee, who were arrested at the Nov. 16 demonstration; and Brian Terrell, who lives and works with his family and friends at Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker Farm in Maloy, Iowa.

"This is exactly what people feared would happen," Terrell, who said he had been involved in and sometimes arrested for protests of United States actions related to Honduras, Vieques, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere over many years, told the Associated Press. "The civil liberties of everyone in this country are in danger. How we handle that here in Iowa is very important on how things are going to happen in this country from now on."

Records were also subpoenaed from the Drake University chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild -- an organization whose national office experienced government red-baiting during the McCarthy period.

"The subpoena [which sought records identifying the officers of the Drake chapter in November 2003, the current location of any local offices, as well as agendas] has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with intimidating lawful protestors and suppressing First Amendment freedom of expression and association," Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the Guild, responded in a Guild Press Release issued February 6.

"In the 1950s our members suffered harm from disclosure of their associational relationship with the Guild. The Guild is in the business of fighting illegal government activity and we will fight to protect our membership information. We will also work to support and defend the rights of the other activists targeted by these subpoenas."

The U.S. attorney's office in Des Moines also convinced U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff to issue an order prohibiting Drake employees from talking about a subpoena the University received, Randy Gould reported on February 9, in his always informative online newsletter The Oread Daily.

Mark Smith, a lobbyist for the Washington-based American Association of University Professors, told the Associated Press that he was not familiar with any other similar situation where a U.S. university's records were subpoenaed. The case, he pointed out has echoes of the "red squads" of the 1950s and campus clampdowns on Vietnam War protesters.

After several days of refusing to comment, on Monday, February 9, U.S. Attorney Stephen O'Meara finally offered up the "first official details of what the investigation is about," TheIowaChannel.com reported. "O'Meara said reports that the case is being investigated as an 'antiterrorism' matter that involves the United States Patriot Act are 'not accurate.'"

"The narrow purpose and scope of that inquiry is to determine whether there were any violations of federal law, or prior agreements to violate federal law, regarding unlawful entry into military property -- and specifically to include whether there were any violations as a result of an attempt to enter within the fenced, secure perimeter at Camp Dodge," O'Meara said in a statement.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin indicated his dismay by demanding more information on the case from U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. "I want to know what is going on. I want to know what is happening here and why these subpoenas are being issued," Harkin said, prior to release of the statement from the U.S. attorney in Des Moines.

The four anti-war activists were set to appear before a Grand Jury in short order, when they received word that the subpoenas had been withdrawn by the Justice Department.

Brian Terrell, told a crowd of about 100 cheering people outside the federal courthouse: "We made them want to stop, and we have to make sure they never want to do this again."
"If it was just a trespassing investigation, why seek the membership records of the National Lawyers Guild?" asked Ben Stone, executive director of the ICLU. "If this was an attempt to chill protests through the aggressive policing of a run-of-the-mill crime, we've got a serious problem in America."

However, Al Overbaugh, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office told the AP that the investigation was not over, but he refused to comment any further.

Ten of the more than 530 servicemen and women killed as a result of President Bush's March 2003 invasion of Iraq were from Iowa. Several thousand Iowa National Guard troops are stationed in the Persian Gulf.

The Iowa state flag, which was officially adopted in 1921, seventy-five years after statehood, consists of three vertical stripes -- blue, white and red. According to Iowa Facts and Fun, "the blue stands for loyalty, justice and truth; the white for purity; and the red for courage." Ironically, on the white center stripe is an eagle carrying in its beak blue streamers inscribed with the state motto: "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain." In light of the Bush Adnministration's assault on dissent, to maintain these rights will be an ongoing struggle.

(c) 2004 Working Assets Online. All rights reserved

Watch Rights Doctrines Bend

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.