It was created as an emergency tool to fight "terror", but the Patriot Act is headed for renewal as the law of the land for Americans, reports Hicham Safieddine Four years ago, the United States government introduced the Patriot Act, a piece of legislation designed to grant the federal authorities sweeping powers to fight "terrorism" in the wake of the 11 September attacks. The hastily drafted bill curtailed many civil liberties Americans took for granted. It was blamed for documented discrimination against American Arabs and Muslims. But the act passed with little resistance given the climate of fear dominant at the time and the prevailing sense of urgency to hunt down those responsible for the attacks. Some provisions were scheduled to expire by the end of this year, reflecting the emergency nature of the bill. But the majority of these sunset provisions along with the remainder sections are expected to become permanent, thus harder to alter in the future. As a result, civil rights groups across the country are crying foul. The president of the Bill of Right Defence Committee, says the temporary and limited derogation of rights that occurred in 2001 may be considered constitutional as it was a time of national emergency. But that is not the case this time around. "This uncritical authorisation is a 'constitutional disaster' because along with new surveillance technologies and the shifting balance at the US supreme court, it could affect a permanent and harmful change in the American body politic, undermining such values as diversity, the rule of law... equality and due process that have been the foundation for US national law," Pitts, who is a lecturer at Stanford law School, told Al-Ahram Weekly. Sticky provisions of the bill include sections that empower the government and its investigative agencies like the FBI to conduct their work with weak judicial oversight and limitations. The so-called "library" provision, for example, allows federal agents to browse through medical, business, travel, and library records of American citizens without court supervision. Another contentious section, the "sneak-and peak" one, enables FBI agents to search residences of citizens without prior notification. If the past is any indication of how civil liberties are safeguarded under a re-authorised and slightly amended Patriot Act, the future of these constitutionally-enshrined freedoms looks grim. The 2001 act has been cited by the Council on American and Islamic Relations (CAIR) as one of five factors, including the war in Iraq, behind the sharp increase in reported incidents of discrimination against Muslims in the United States. In its 2004 report entitled Unpatriotic Acts, CAIR says claims of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment rose by nearly 70 per cent in 2003 compared to 2002, the year following the 11 September attacks. While some of these incidents are hate crimes committed by members of the public, law agents are cited as a major source of these reports of harassment. The executive summary of the CAIR report points out that the 2003 number of airline passenger profiling and unreasonable arrests had dropped significantly, but "allegations of mistreatment by federal and local law enforcement personnel (including profiling and discriminatory application of the law) accounted for a third of all reports, the highest record ever in real and proportionate terms." The extent of law violations by federal officials in the line of their work was recently revealed by partially censored documents released this month and cited by The Washington Post. The documents reveal that from 2002 to 2004, over 280 violations were allegedly committed in 13 cases reviewed by the president's Foreign Intelligence Oversight Board. In one separate case of FBI conduct, a suspect was kept under surveillance for more than 15 months without notifying Justice Department lawyers. It remains to be seen how many such violations will take place after the re-authorisation of the Patriot Act is confirmed. Earlier this year during its preliminary renewal at the US Congress, two versions were passed separately by the Senate and the House. A final vote is expected in the coming week or so. The Senate's version is seen as containing more restrictions on federal agents that could reduce, if not prevent, the occurrence of abuses as those mentioned above. Under this version, the government has to convince a judge that the seizure of documents facilitated by the "library" provision is linked to an ongoing terrorism-related case. The Senate version also bars the government from delaying notification of a residence search for more than a week without court consent. Pitts says the pressure by the business community for more protection of privacy rights that has entered the debate lately may change things slightly for the better. There is also incentive found in the Patriot Act itself for law-makers to make considerable amendments to it. In one of its introductory paragraphs, the act clearly states that "the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans, including Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia, must be protected, and that every effort must be taken to preserve their safety." The pressure from civil rights and private interest groups comes at time when the neo- conservative establishment at the White House is facing a series of serious setbacks on all fronts. Two of the Bush administration's top advisers came under fire for involvement in the leaking of the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame to the press. Vice-President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff I Libby Lewis resigned after being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection to the case. Carl Rove, the president's right- hand man on the domestic front, dodged charges but is still under investigation. Bush's bid to appoint one of his close political backers to the country's top bench also backfired. Texas lawyer Harriet Myers withdrew her nomination for a seat at the US Supreme Court after her qualifications were questioned by both Republicans and Democrats. The president's ratings continue to plummet among the general public. The death toll of American soldiers in Iraq topped 2,000 this month. But these considerable setbacks have yet to lead to a major overhaul of the White House foreign and domestic policies. "Restoring common sense and liberty seems to be taking longer than anyone thought," says Pitts who believes a Democratic win in the next presidential elections could tilt things in the opposite direction. "Sadly the hope is retreating unless and until there is a broader change in political power."
