American Dictatorship

Peter from Australia, has provided the following summary of HR6166:
Revokes habeas corpus (click for an explanation)
Ends enforcement of the Geneva Conventions
Legalizes torture
Gives the President the power to imprison anyone, without need for explanation, once the President declares the imprisoned person to be an "enemy"
Ends the right to a speedy trial, allowing imprisonment without criminal charges for long periods of time - potentially for a lifetime
Sets up show trials that allow conviction to happen before an investigation into the alleged criminal activity has even begun
Allows the government to use secret evidence to convict defendants, which not even the defendants' lawyers can see
Legalizes the use of testimony that was obtained through torture or other means of coercion - much as occurred at the Salem Witch Trials to force people to testify that their neighbors were witches
Keeps the processes of trials, the results of the trials, and even the existence of the trials, secret from the American public
Ends the enforcement of the 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination
Allows defendants and their lawyers to be prevented from cross examining witnesses, while placing no such restriction on the prosecution
Gives anyone suspected of war crimes, including President Bush himself, immunity from prosecution.
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