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Equal protection of the law is like the
ground that supports step after step as a person goes about daily life. As long as equal
protection prevails, a person can't be arrested without a good reason. A person can't be
dragged into a police station or secret detention center and held incommunicado, without
access to a lawyer or anyone else from the outside world. A person can't be subjected to
an unfair trial or to cruel or degrading punishment. Due process, a technical term for fairness and equal protection of the law, places limits on what political authorities, law enforcement personnel, court officers, and prison guards can do to an individual. Due process mandates that detainees receive explanations of the charges against them, pre-trial detention conforming to international humanitarian standards, and a prompt trial. Without due process, a powerful few can silence criticism with arbitrary arrest or punish dissent by terrorizing whole sectors of society. A person can be jailed in Egypt merely for insulting the President. "Dangerousness" and "contempt of authority" are grounds for arrest in Cuba. In Turkey, people perceived as opponents of the government may be detained and then "disappear," while officials publicly claim no knowledge of the detainee's whereabouts or fate. Iraq leads the world in unresolved "disappearances," according to the United Nations, with over 16,000 missing detainees by late 1996. The "ghost houses" of Sudan defy due process at every stage. These unofficial detention centers, operated by security forces, hold prisoners for six months or more without informing them of charges against them or even telling family members where they are held. Prolonged incommunicado detention is a common setting for torture. In the new country Georgia, formerly a part of the Soviet Union, prison officials admitted that 40 detainees never brought to trial died in 1995 as a result of torture or harsh prison conditions. In Saudi Arabia and several other Middle Eastern countries, judges routinely convict defendants solely on the basis of confessions and disregard evidence that the "confessions" were extracted under torture. Legal proceedings in some countries do not even deserve to be called trials. A guilty verdict is the foregone conclusion. Amnesty International confirmed more than 4,000 executions in China during 1996 and reported that the true total is probably much higher. Such executions frequently followed summary trials, in which prisoners had no opportunity to prepare or present an adequate defense. Pakistani state authorities silently stand aside as karo kari, or "black deed," continues in several rural regions. Without benefit of any legal proceedings, community members kill anyone they suspect of committing adultery. In Russia, Brazil, and many other countries, police routinely ignore due process in deciding who is a suspect and in imposing punishments. Instead of acting to halt ethnically motivated violence in Moscow, police have harassed and assaulted members of ethnic minorities. Poor and marginalized communities in Brazil have long suffered police brutality. A U.S. immigration law enacted in April 1997 denies due process to the refugees most in need of safety from severe persecution. The law permits summary expulsion from the United States, without a hearing or rights of appeal, if individuals arrive here without valid travel documents. A person fleeing for his or her life certainly should not be placed in further peril by a U.S. requirement to gather proper documentation before seeking safety. Whether by negligence or deliberate design, failure to provide due process threatens fundamental freedoms. Due process is every person's due. Act Now:Request and Read Act
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National Coordinating Committee for UDHR50. |
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