Rights of Enemy Combatants Essay Example for Free

Rights of Enemy Combatants Essay The September 11 2001 US bombing was followed by a US declaration of war against terrorism. The reason the US government cited for the war declaration was the intention to rid the world of all international terrorism groups that posed a formidable danger to the civilian life which is obviously innocent. True to its promise of war against terrorism, the US government has been seen to make progress. By 2003, the US government was holding about 762 terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Stanton, 2003). The war against terrorism, according to the US government is still on and the government is not going to stop until it apprehends the capital terrorist and the head of Al- Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden. In the process of this war against terrorism, a number of tools and policies have been put in place by the US government to make the war successful. The tools at one point or another have often contradicted the very laws and regulations enshrined in the constitution of the US. One such contradiction is the concern of American Legislature of whether or not such terror suspects attract the legal rights enjoyed by the American citizens. The debate goes on. Introduction The meaning of the word Enemy Combatant is context specific. Taking the American fight against terrorism as the context, then the word may be taken to refer to an armed member belonging to an army of an enemy state with which America is at war. For instance, if America is at war with Iraq, then any member of the Iraq armed force qualifies to be called an enemy combatant (Detention of Enemy Combatants Act, 2005). It should be noted that the definition of enemy combatant has evolved over time. Prior to 2008 and according to the Geneva Conventions Article 3, an enemy combatant was described as any individual in an armed war or conflict and who attracts detention subject to the laws and customs of war (Geneva Conventions Article 3, 1949). In America today, the word enemy combatant may be taken to refer to any individual who is, allegedly, a member of the major terrorist groups; Al-Qaeda and Taliban (or member of any other group engaged in terrorism activities) who is being held or detained by the US government. Such individuals are termed as Unlawful combatants who do not in any case attract the protection of Geneva Convention entitled to War Prisoners. Therefore, enemy combatant has three definitions and we need to choose the one we will use in this paper. The last definition of enemy combatant i. e. an individual who is, allegedly, a member of the major terrorist groups of Al-Qaeda and Taliban being in custody of US authorities under the status of unlawful combatant. This paper seeks to highlight the legality of the â€Å"Unlawful Combatant† title given to these individuals by the US government. Further, the paper assesses the presence or absence of legal rights for the unlawful combatant subject to the constitution of the United States of America. Part three of the Geneva conventions defines the prisoners of war as military forces members or militia of such a force belonging to an enemy state at war with America, regular armed forces members showing allegiance to the government, Civilians supporting in non-combat roles and carries an ID issued by armed forces they owe allegiance, Inhabitants of a region uninhabited and who carry arms and reiterate on the enemies approach i. e. they follow the rules of war. Sometimes, an individual may fail to lie in any one of the specifications outlined in the Geneva Convention defining a war prisoner. In such a situation, the Geneva Convention article 3 specified further that such individuals should be treated to belong to any of the classes specified until their true status is determined by a competent tribunal. Treatment of unlawful combatants, who are supposed to be treated as war prisoners but are not, is a contentious issue in the Bush administration. The alleged suspects of Al Qaeda are supposed to be treated as war prisoners but have been called unlawful combatants, which is still within the confines of the convention. Now where the argument comes in is the closing clause in the Geneva Convention Part 3which spells out the fact that whether an individual is a lawful or unlawful combatant, he is supposed to be treated in a humane way (Geneva Conventions Article 3, 1949). The rationale behind the particular treatment of the â€Å"unlawful combatants† in Guantanamo Bay is enshrined in the Enemy Combatants Act, 2005 which has since received a considerable resistance from the judiciary and civilians alike. This 2005 Act not only managed to block the detainee’s access to lawyers and courts but also gave the government authority to play out of the dictates of the US constitution. The Act too denies the detainees the habeas corpus which is the legal feat through which detainees can ask for reprieve from illegal detention or imprisonment. The American Bar Association (ABA) is one such organization that has lifted up hands in protest against the detaining of individuals termed as unlawful combatants without giving them their right to habeas corpus. In 2003, ABA released a resolution besieging the congress to set standards to guide the detaining. They further urged the congress to allow the detainee full access to lawyers and courts in a bid to prevent netting of innocent individuals because some of the individuals held may have been found in the wrong places at the wrong times (Holland, 2008). The unlawful combatants should have access to courts and attorneys entitlement as specified by Geneva Convention Part 3 Section 5 which calls for a tribunal to determine if detainees are unlawful combatants or not. The tribunal needs to be competent. The Geneva Convention dictates are standards that should be followed internationally. In fact it is an international legal system. The Supreme Court attested to the detainee’s rights and that is why it ruled that the detainees could use U. S. courts to seek reprieve from detention (Senne, 2006). If among the detains there happens to be American citizens, such as Jose’ Padilla and Yaser Hamdi, then they have a right to an attorney, access to court and an hearing subject to American constitution. They are also entitled to a speedy trial; to determine whether or not they are guilty. They are entitled to these rights because they are American citizens. (CRS Report, 2005). The Military Trials Bill which got approval from the congress gave legislative support to the military to carry out practices unfamiliar with the Criminal Justice system of the US. The practices include prosecution, interrogation and detention denies the detainees their right of self representation (by forcing the detainees to accept lawyers from the military) and their right to a speedy trial (Smith, 2008). This infringement if detainee’s rights have also been witnessed by the Director for Human Rights, Washington Office, Tom Malinowski when he talks about how bush has managed to deny the detainees their rights. This view was affirmed by the Supreme Court when it issued an order for the 6 Algerian men who had been detained for seven years to be released. The court claimed that the detaining was illegal and it had gone against the rights of those detainees. This was seen as a setback on the US government’s war against terrorism. (Glaberson, 2008) Illegal Rights of Enemy Combatants Despite the civilians, human rights activists and some part of the judicial system maintaining that the Unlawful Enemy Combatants have legal rights that the government has only chosen to ignore, the government on its part denies this claim saying the response and treatment of detainees is within the confines of the constitution. The Enemy Combatants Act, 2005 and The Military Trials Bill set the pace for the treatment that the detained Enemy Combatants receive. The two Acts/ Bills make the treatment legal and they were passed due to anticipation by the executive that court challenges were imminent. Thus, the executive entrenched in the bills/ Acts some provisions strong enough to bar the courts interference and at the same time limit the application of international conventions that govern the treatment war prisoners or is it Enemy Combatants. These provisions also went further to bar habeas corpus leaving the detainees without any basis to seek reprieve from detention or to challenge the detention. Reacting to The Military Trials Bill, Neal Katyal, a law professor at Georgetown University said that the formation of the bill basically created two-system justice. The first justice system being the military commissions to deal with foreigners termed as Enemy Combatants and the normal or regular criminal justice system to take care of the US citizens. The emerging two systems of justice, he said, violated the14th Amendment which embraces the equal protection for all provided they are under the US jurisdiction (Austin, 2003). The fact that these detainees are called Enemy Combatants means that unlike war prisoners, they are open to detention for as long as it takes the war on terrorism without access to an attorney or any judicial intervention. The designation of Enemy Combatant traces its origin in the 1942 American Case Law where the supreme law was able to recognize the Law of War and its distinction between the War Prisoner (Lawful Combatant) and the Enemy Combatant (Unlawful Combatant). The distinction further that the Enemy Combatants were not subject to the â€Å"War prisoner† status that attracts the protection 1949 Geneva Convention pronouncements. The Enemy Combatant designation has . been used by the Supreme Court earlier in history and this has given the government precedent to use this term and treat the Enemy combatants as it does (Austin, 2003).

The Right to Privacy :: Papers

The Right to Privacy Our country's fathers found themselves in a dilemma ratifying the Constitution. New York, one of the most powerful states, required a Bill of Rights be added before ratification. This was an incredible task for James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. Madison opposed enumerating a Bill of Rights for reasons expressed in the Ninth Amendment. Madison feared the listing of specific rights might be construed as the only rights citizens possessed. He was quite correct in his perception. Advances in technology, such as video cameras, phone taps, and Internet invasion, make privacy a very different issue in the new millennium than it was in 1791. The right to privacy is defined as the right to be protected from unwarranted intrusion by the government, media, or other institutions or individuals. There are many historical court cases dealing with the issue of privacy; some have become landmark cases that have shaped a whole new attitude about American civil rights. A few examples of such cases are The U.S Supreme Court decisions in Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965), and Roe vs. Wade and (1973). In addition to such monumental cases, many more recent, smaller cases have shaped the our right to privacy. Computer and telecommunication advances have made credit, medical, and other data readily available, highly marketable commodities, raising many concerns about individual's privacy. While few may be inclined to argue against the rights of citizens there is the question of the framers' original intent in adopting the Ninth Amendment. Most constitutional experts assume Madison meant simply "The enumeration of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." (Amendment IX) However, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects" has become a much more complicated issue than it was in the later part of the 18th century. The requirement of the states to include a Bill of Rights was ,in theory, a sound idea. The rights of the people should be protected. The times called for a specific list of these rights because of frequent failure to protest them. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to state the rights of the people and to serve as law to protect them. The Bill of Rights lists both the civil liberties, freedoms guaranteed to an individual, and civil rights, what the government must provide for an individual.

Fanny Mendelssohn

Fanny Mendelssohn was one of the greatest female composers to have ever lived. She was born on November 14th, 1805 in Hamburg, Germany. Fanny was a romantic composer and, though only few were published in her life, she composed over 500 works including lieder and piano pieces (Stanton, 1984). Fanny was the oldest of four children and the sister of the well-known composer Felix Mendelssohn, with whom she was very close to (Estrella, 2011). Her grandfather was Moses Mendelssohn, a very popular philosopher of the time (Estrella, 2011). Fanny was extremely talented from childhood, but unfortunately was limited due to the negative attitudes toward women in musical professions of the time (Estrella, 2011). As a child, Fanny was trained on the piano by her mother. She once performed twenty four preludes from Johann Sebastian Bach’s â€Å"Well-tempered Clavier† from memory (Stanton, 1984). She was also influenced when she began to study under other composers. In 1816, Fanny began to compose with Marie Bigot in Paris. Later, in 1818, she went on to study composition under Carl Friedrich Zelter (Estrella, 2011). She wrote over 200 lieders, including the famous â€Å"Swan Song† (Estrella, 2011). She also wrote over 200 fugues, preludes, and sonatas. Later in her life, she began to write choral music, including the famous cantata â€Å"Oratorium nach den Bildern der Bibel† (Estrella, 2011). There are many interesting facts to be learned about Fanny as well. It is rumored that when Felix, her brother, played for Queen Victoria, the queen was very impressed. The Queen went on to say that her favorite was â€Å"Italien,† which Felix admitted was the work of Fanny (â€Å"Essentials of Music Composers†, 2011). Fanny was also extremely close to her brother, Felix. Felix idolized Fanny and would seek her out for musical advice and approval on his own compositions (FMH, 2009). In fact, when Fanny passed away in 1847, it is said that Felix later became depressed and passed away six months later (Estrella, 2011). In 1829, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel, a successful artist and painter (Stanton, 1984). They had one son together, Sebastian, whom they named after Fanny’s favorite composer, Johann Sebastian Bach (Estrella, 2011). Fanny’s musical talent matched, if not surpassed that of her brother’s, but even if Fanny had wanted to pursue a career in music it would have been nearly impossible. Societal attitudes of the time prevented women from holding professions in music. Even her father discouraged her. In an 1820 letter to Fanny, he tells her that, while music could be a career for Felix, â€Å"for you it can and must only be an ornament, never the basis of your being and doing. FMH, 2009). † He encouraged her to take on the more â€Å"conventional† role of staying at home and bearing children. A year later, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel. She did take on the acceptable role of women at the time, but still continued to compose over 400 more works (FMH, 2009). On May 1847, after rehearsing her brother’s cantata â€Å"Die erste Walpurgisnacht † for a performance, Fanny collapsed and passed away at the age of forty-one, due to a stroke. Fortunately, she lived long enough to experience changing attitudes towards women in musical professions, which aided in a number of her works having appeared in print, and thus allowed her to fulfill her goals of being seen as a serious composer (FMH, 2009). Since Fanny was one of the first female composers to ever have work published, she set a precedent for the emergence of women into a male-dominated profession (FMH, 2009). Much of Fanny’s work is unknown because most of her music was not published, but it is very apparent that Fanny Mendelssohn was and still is one of the most notable and talented female composers of all time.

Neo Smartphone A New Creation - 1425 Words

NEO SMARTPHONE NEO smartphone is a new creation we have established in the UK markets. It is a smartphone similar to iPhone and Samsung but better and cheaper and long lasting. We got this idea, as not everyone is able to afford other expensive gadgets. Our company is in a partnership at the moment and if the product is successful we would change it and make it into public ltd company. As a partnership each member has put in  £2000 for the making of the product to the final step in selling the product. The advantages and disadvantages of a Private ltd company Restricted Liability: It implies that if the organization experience money related misery due to typical business action, the individual resources of shareholders won t be†¦show more content†¦Each member has been allocated its own duties in promoting this new product and getting the best out of it. The responsibility of Advertising manager Advertising managers are in advancing, showcasing and promoting an organization s items. They keep up close meeting expectations associations with all offices inside an organization and working personally with the showcasing division. The responsibility of Marketing manager Marketing managers. Marketing managers build up the company s advertising method in point of interest. With the assistance of subordinates, including item improvement administrators and statistical surveying supervisors, they appraise the interest for items and administrations offered by the firm and its rivals. Moreover, they distinguish potential business sector The responsibility of General manager Needs to devise and set up a yearly plan and financial arrangement, and present it before the governing body. He needs to plan involved reports of the working of every last one of divisions under his power, and submit reports to the top administration for execution survey. A general manager can even have imperative influence in enlisting and preparing the supervisors under him. Giving preparing to new practice managers in regards to how to expand representative execution, is likewise his obligation. The responsibility of Training and development manager Advising organization