Washington, DC | October 31, 2007 | www.adc.org | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today announced its opposition to the nomination of Judge Michael B. Mukasey to be the next United States Attorney General. The decision came as a result of Judge Mukasey’s written response to questions posed to him by members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary concerning a torture technique known as, “waterboarding.”
In a written response received yesterday by committee members, Mukasey expressed his personal disdain for waterboarding but was uncertain as to whether it violated US laws on torture. The technique is used to simulate drowning and is used to coerce confessions or intimidate a suspect. All four currently serving Judge Advocate Generals for the armed forces are on the record in qualifying waterboarding as torture and constituting a war crime.
ADC National Executive Director Kareem Shora said, “The Attorney General is the nation’s chief law enforcement officer and is tasked with the application of the fair and proper rule of law in the United States. The nation’s attorney general must be able to maintain the delicate balance between national security and individual liberties and rights,” Shora said, “Judge Mukasey’s hesitancy on this matter may foreshadow a possible inability or unwillingness to enforce the rule of law, including that of our Constitution and international legal standards, on controversial policies that have included torture used in the name of national security.”
Muskasey was nominated by President George Bush to replace former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has announced that the committee will meet on Tuesday, November 5 to vote on Mukasey’s nomination.
Of additional concern to ADC are public statements made by Judge Mukasey that civil liberties could be set aside for the sake of national security issues, expressing his doubt as to whether non-citizens in US custody should enjoy the protection of the US Constitution and also advocating for the creation of separate national security courts to hear terrorism related cases. The combination of the above statements with his answers before the committee is of grave concern. Therefore, because of these concerns, ADC opposes the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be the next Attorney General of the United States.
ADC encourages our members to contact both of their senators and ask them to oppose the nomination of Michael Mukasey for US Attorney General.
Fill out the attached letter to your senators or contact them directly using the following website: http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/officials/