# ABA OPPOSES SECRET DETENTION OF FOREIGN NATIONALS

- Author: Joichi Ito
- Date: 2002-08-15T06:26:13Z


From the Cato Daily Dispatch

August 14, 2002

http://www.cato.org/

http://www.cato.org/dispatch/08-14-02d.html

The American Bar Association voted yesterday to oppose the Bush

administration's secret detention of foreign nationals after the Sept. 11

attacks, urging that their names be disclosed and they be given immediate

access to lawyers and family members, Reuters reported.



The nation's largest lawyers group joined civil libertarians and others

who have criticized the government's policy of secret and prolonged

detentions.



In "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Protecting Our Liberties While Fighting

Terrorism," ( http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-443es.html ) Timothy Lynch,

associate director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies, argues

that government officials have typically responded to terrorist attacks by

enacting "antiterrorism" legislation designed to assuage public fears by

making "the dubious claim that they can prevent terrorism by curtailing

the privacy and civil liberties of the people."





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#### Categories

Japanese Policy, Privacy