H.R. 1932, the deceptively-titled “Keep Our Communities Safe Act”,passed out of the House Judiciary Committee two weeks ago despite stridentcriticism of its sweeping provisions. The Act is a threat to the fundamental tenetof due process, to the human rights of asylum seekers, and to fiscalresponsibility.

The bill, introduced by Lamar Smith (R-Texas), istouted as necessary to keep dangerous criminal immigrants off the streets. Inreality, it grants unlimited power to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)to detain noncitizens for an indefinite period of time, with no opportunity fora bond hearing. If passed, this legislation wouldsignificantly impact the most vulnerable groups seeking entrance to the US –those fleeing torture and persecution in their home countries.

For example, a Tibetan man was brutally tortured and imprisonedfor a year by the Chinese authorities for putting up pro-Tibetan independenceposters. He fled to the US and spent almost a year in a New Jersey detentionfacility before finally being granted asylum. If the Act passes, someone like him could endup in a US prison for the rest of his life – without ever having committed acrime in the US.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has issued opinions limitingthe government’s authority to detain noncitizens indefinitely, but H.R. 1932seeks to alter current regulations so that DHS would have complete discretionover whom it will detain and how long that detention should last. There are no significantprocedural protections (such as the right to a hearing before a judge or tohave legal counsel provided by the government) for someone facing indefinitedetention. The Act eviscerates due process even for those who pose no flightrisk or danger to communities. This is simply unconstitutional.

Not only does H.R. 1932 violate civil liberties and human rights fornoncitizens, but it is fiscally disastrous for the US. DHS estimates thatimmigration detention costs more than $2 billion per year – H.R.1932 would drive this number up, creating an even greater demand for detentionspace and a further strain on the prison system infrastructure.

The House must reject this dangerous and unconstitutional bill. Itrepresents an erosion of the fundamental civil liberties at the core of the USjudicial system and has potentially disastrous effects on vulnerable asylumseekers.

Eight children were rescued by Thai police from an apartmentin Chiang Mai on Tuesday. The children, who were from 3 to 14 years old, wereheld by three Burmese citizens who were forcing them to beg for money. Thaipolice said the captors lured or stole the children from their homes in Burma.

Human trafficking is common in Burma and Thailand. Men,women and children are trafficked for sex work, marriage or menial labor. Burmais often a source of trafficked people as well as an intermediate stop forpeople trafficked from other countries. The US State Department has given Burmathe lowest ranking, and Thailand a middle ranking, for not complying with theTrafficking Victims’ Protection Act.

PHR supports the efforts of the Thai authorities to stoptrafficking, an urges them to do more to combat this human rights violationthroughout Thailand.

Title:
Introducing Medical Neutrality Protection Act of 2011

Hon.& Member’s Official Name:
Hon. Jim McDermott

Full Name of Congressional State:
Washington

Current Date:
Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Member’s Name as it Appears in Official Record:
Mr. McDermott

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce bipartisan legislation called the Medical Neutrality Protection Act of 2011. In times of war and civil unrest, the independence of physicians and health care workers are often hindered, endangering their safety and limiting their ability to care for the wounded. I first became aware of this issue back in the 1980s during the civil war in El Salvador. The conflict ended in the early 1990s with over 75,000 people killed, some of whom were medical workers who were caught in combat or working in refugee camps. Then, as now, I was concerned that the United States was not doing enough to stop government forces from harming medical workers, who are some of the only unbiased eyewitnesses that we have on the ground.

While international humanitarian laws codify the concept of medical neutrality, we have seen systematic attacks against medical professionals by various armed forces over the last several months, particularly in the Middle East. Several independent human rights organizations — including Physicians for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch — have documented these abuses and are calling for more countries to address this disturbing trend.

This bill elevates the protection of medical professionals as a policy priority for U.S. government so that countries that attack doctors and shut hospitals will no longer be able to carry out business as usual. Under this Act, the Secretary of State will be required to maintain and regularly update a list of countries that violate medical neutrality. Countries on this list will not qualify for certain military assistance, and government officials from the violating countries will not be eligible for visas to travel to the United States. The bill also calls for the creation of a United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Protection and Promotion of Medical Neutrality.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of protecting doctors and access to medical care is not a partisan issue. This is a common sense bill that fills a void in foreign policy. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Thank you.

Nature.com today posts an interview by Priya Shetty with Dr. Kamiar Alaei, given during the recent International AIDS Society meetings in Rome.

Excerpt:

Q) Did you ever think you would be in prison one day yourself?
A) Never. We never expected to be arrested. The worst scenario we imagined if the new government was not happy with our work was that they would tell us not to continue. We would then have asked them how they wanted us to implement or design our programmes. We would have adapted.

The interview highlights both the important work the Alaeis did prior to their detention, and the work they continued in prison. Please sign the petition to demand the release of Dr. Arash Alaei.

PHRand its supporters are appealing for the immediate release of theinternationally renowned HIV/AIDS doctor Dr. Arash Alaei from Evin prison in Tehran, Iran. Drs.Arash and Kamiar Alaei were wrongfully convicted in January 2009 on charges ofcommunicating with the enemy government.

Lastyear, Dr. Kamiar Alaei was released and yesterday he spoke at the annualInternational AIDS Society Conference and made a public appeal for the releaseof his brother.

Below is a heartfelt appeal from Kamiar Alaei on behalf of hisbrother. Please take a moment today to sign the petition urging the Supreme Leader of Iran toimmediately release the imprisoned AIDS doctor.

I am delighted to thank all the international organizationsand individuals around the world for their tireless efforts to call for therelease from prison of me and my brother. I am so grateful for theirunconditional, unlimited and unexpected support.

Even though I am far from my country and myimmediate family, I now feel that I am a small member of a worldwide familywhich is beyond borders.

Just as we did before our arrest in 2008, wewill continue to concentrate on health-related issues. We have never ever beeninvolved in politics.

Since my brother just completed half of hisimprisonment this month, he is now qualified to be released immediately basedon Iranian law. First-time prisoners are eligible for early release at thispoint. I hope Arash gets this opportunity to reunite with our family andcontinue his work to promote health.

Please help my brother by sharing this petitionto all your network members.

Youcan also visit IranFreetheDocs.org for more information.

This weekend, another Bahraini doctor was arrestedin Manama, the capital of Bahrain. This detention continues the injustice thathas plagued Bahrain’s medical professionals since the unrest started inFebruary. Twelve medics still remain in government custody and face an unknownfate. The Bahraini authorities should unconditionally release all detained medics,dismiss all charges and investigate the allegations of torture.

The doctorsin custody have allegedly been beaten, blindfolded, forced to confess to crimesthey did not commit, and endured humiliation and insults regarding their sectsand beliefs. One of the female doctors released said“I spent four weeks in jail because I was doing my job. In detention, they callus by our first name, not Doctor. Furthermore, the male interrogator keptcalling me a whore and a daughter of a whore.”

Bahraini medics should not be pawns in a politicalgame. Unfortunately, doctors in Bahrain have found themselves on the front lineof political conflict and have become targets of the Bahraini forces. Areleased female doctor said “I am still in shock; I never expected that I wouldbe arrested and tortured. Now, I know how the victims of the sexual harassmentfeel because now I am one of them. I lost my job and reputation and I have nosupport and no treatment.”

Bahraini medics need our help to resume their work andfulfill their ethical duties to treat people in need. The Bahraini governmentshould respect their commitment to international law and release all medicalprofessionals immediately.

The French press calls it a soap opera and the US public issimilarly enthralled – former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the hotelhousekeeper accusing him of sexual assault have each been painted alternately asvillain or victim.

Strauss-Kahn’s attorneys are intent on portraying thehousekeeper as a shady character with ties to drug dealers, prostitution, andfederal crimes including tax evasion and lying to immigration authorities inorder to obtain asylum. With her credibility thus tainted, their hope is thather claim against Strauss-Kahn will crumble, and if not, perhaps deportationwill silence her. Regardless of allegations about character and immigrationstatus, she deserves a chance to tell a judge what happened to her in thathotel suite.

While there is no doubt that some people embellish theirasylum applications to increase their chances of success, many tens of thousandshave legitimate cases that meet the criteria allowing them to seek safe havenin the US. They are desperate victims of torture, violence, and persecution,arriving in the US scarred and seeking a new life. The housekeeper possibly hashad experiences few of us can even begin to imagine. Guinea, the country fromwhich she fled, has a record of profound human rights abuses, including violentrepression of dissenters, mass rape, and torture at the hands of governmentofficials. No matter what her asylum application says, it is likely that shehad an extraordinarily difficult life in Guinea and fled to the US indesperation.

If Strauss-Kahn is prosecuted, we will learn more about thehousekeeper’s immigration history, but more importantly, we will learn whatthis powerful man may have done to a vulnerable woman. We cannot loseperspective on the weight and severity of the criminal claims she has madeagainst Strauss-Kahn. These allegations of violent sexual assault are serious,much more so than concerns about the potential civil infractions of anoverstated asylum application. Whether she falsified her asylum application or is simply less than a perfect victim, she is entitled topursue her claim. Justice demands that we allow her to tell her troubling andpainful story to a court, while putting aside judgment about her immigrationhistory.

A coalition of nine dissident groups from inside Burma,called +9 Orgs, issued a statement this week calling on the Burmese governmentto make peace with ethnic armies. The statement said the ongoing civil war inBurma is not just an issue between the army and ethnic groups, but that itconcerns everyone in Burma who wants democracy.

“We believe that peace could not beachieved without democracy whereas there could be no democracy without peace,” the coalition said.

Conflicts between the army and ethnic militias in Shan,Karen, Mon, and Kachin states, and previous attempts by the army to transformethnic militias into army-controlled Border Guard Forces, were given as examplesof “clear proof of military regime's lack of asincere wish for national peace.”

Thestatement also claimed that the immediate cause of the conflict in Kachin Stateis a hydroelectric project started by the military regime “for its owninterests,” but that the root cause of the problem is the regime’s “failure toprovide equal rights to ethnic nationalities.”

PHR supports+9 Orgs’ calls for an end to the civil war in Burma and demands for ethnicminorities to be treated with equal rights.

+9 Orgscomprises:  All BurmaMonks’ Alliance, The 88 Generation Students, Arakan Ray, Democratic Students andYouths Force in Rangoon Division, All Burma Federation of Student Unions, 2007Generation Students Union, Arakan Students Union, All Burma Youths Union, andBasic Education Students Union.