Former Intel Employee 'Disappeared' by U.S.

pmodern writes "Wired has this story about Maher "Mike" Hawash a former Intel programmer who is being held by the DOJ for suspected terrorism. Anyone familiar with the Kevin Mitnick saga will not be surprised that he hasn't been charged and has been locked away in solitary. 'For nearly two weeks, he has been held as a so-called "material witness" in solitary confinement in a federal lockup in Sheridan, Oregon. The designation allows authorities to hold him indefinitely without charging him with a crime.'" See also a NYT article and the Free Mike Hawash website.

Comments

Cheap Joke

[The_Rippa]

I wonder where the goverment got their "Intel" from.

No seriously folks, I'm here all week

Depressingly, I predict that

[Savatte]

he will not receive the massive support and protest that mitnick received, simply because of his name. Kevin = American, where as Maher = sounds like something from one of those countries we are at war with. Kinda sad, really.

Re:Depressingly, I predict that

[Gannoc]

he will not receive the massive support and protest that mitnick received, simply because of his name. Kevin = American, where as Maher = sounds like something from one of those countries we are at war with. Kinda sad, really.

Whereas I, on the other hand, think that a guy with a wife and children is going to receive more support than a creepy dork who may or may not have been able to start WWIII.

Warblogging

[Forager]

Warblogging.com has been covering Hawash's story, as well as the Total Information Awareness story for a good while now. "George Paine" is a well-informed writer and his links are usually pretty good.

Re:Speaking as a Canadian

[siliconshock.com]

Lucky for you, you live in Canada or I would have you arrested on making Anti-american (terrorist) statements!!

We're fighting terrorism, right?

[cperciva]

After 9/11, Bush made two statements:
1. "Terrorists hate America because America is a land of freedom and opportunity."
2. "We intend to attack the root causes of terrorism."

Sounds like everything is going according to plan.

Democracy?

[miffo.swe]

"For nearly two weeks, he has been held as a so-called "material witness" in solitary confinement in a federal lockup in Sheridan, Oregon. The designation allows authorities to hold him indefinitely without charging him with a crime."

With tools like that, who needs dictatorships? Just lockup anyone likely to compete about power of state. No chance of getting caught since everything is stamped "top secret". You simply cannot lay power like that in the hands of people. No matter what it WILL be abused!

The US is imploding far faster than anyone would imagine. Remember how Rome fell and why for a cluebat.

Disappeared? Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Disappeared" would imply that no one knew where he was.

There are regimes in the world that actually do this, like Iraq and Iran. Some of the South American governments were infamous for this.

So, the issue might be that he is being detained without due process or habeas corpus rights, but please don't confuse the issue and say the US government "disappeared" him.

Re:Disappeared? Really?

[aminorex]

I agree that the use of the term 'disappeared' as a verb
is no longer appropriate in the Hawass case. However, there
are roughly 1200 people who have in fact 'disappeared' from
the U.S. who are believed to have been removed by INS or DOJ
in the past year and a half.

The U.S. has reserved and excercised the assumed right to
designate any individual, whether a citizen or non-citizen,
as a terrorist, and to kill them. The U.S. has also reserved
the right to designate any person, citizen or non-citizen,
domestically or abroad, as an enemy combatant, regardless
of whether or not they were engaged in active combat, and
to detain them indefinitely without access to legal
counsel.

These powers are reserved to the office of an unelected
official who has repeatedly expressed a preference for
dictatorship over democracy, and has waged war against
non-beligerent nations on false pretexts, without a
declaration of war by the Congress, as required by the
founding laws of the United States. This act is defined
as a Crime against Peace, by the Principles of the Nuremberg
Tribunal, VI(a)i. When the Nazi government of Germany did
this, those responsible were hung by the neck until dead.

First they came for the Jews

[Ian Peon]

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

2003: s/Jews/Terrorists/

What scares me most...

[HeelToe]

What scares me most about this whole ordeal is no one has any mechanism through the legal system to get him out. Not only is the government tight-lipped about why they have him, when they showed up in force to take him, they claim they have a warrant, which is sealed. There's not even any attempt at demonstrating legitimacy. This means that without some identified party legitimately responsible for the warrant, there can be no satisfaction it is even valid.

"We have a warrant for your arrest. Give yourself up, you're surrounded and outgunned."

"I want to see the warrant."

"Sorry, it's sealed. I can vouch for its legitimacy."

*shudder*

Re:It's...

[Grax]

The damn thing about it is that it is illegal based on the fifth amendment. Unfortunately there are some judges out there incapable of comprehending plain english. "No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"

I haven't had the time or excuse to investigate how judges became confused on this issue but the material witness statute plainly and obviously violates the fifth amendment and must be overturned.

Judges also seem to be blind when it comes to the "property" clause above as they allow property to be seized (by the DEA, IRS, etc) without due process and the owner must sue to have any hope of getting their property back.

Of course the lawmakers are also to blame. They did swear to protect and uphold the constitution, yet they insist on trying to break it whenever they don't find it convenient.

Let's not forget...

[Upright Joe]

Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla have been locked up now for around a year(Over a year in Hamdi's case I think). Both have been refused access to a lawyer and neither have had charges filed against them. These are american citizens. This could happen to you. This could happen to somebody you know.

Our own government is locking people up without due process or just killing them to save the hassle. Something really has to be done. Write your congressmen, join the ACLU(I did yesterday), participate in protests even if it feels stupid at first. The only way we're going to keep our rights is to actively work to defend them, especially with facists like Bush, Ashcroft, and Rumsfield at the helm.

Not original, but worth repeating nevertheless...

[davebooth]

Land of the Free*

*Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited

Re:NYT article

[symbolic]

The case has drawn the attention of civil liberties groups nationwide, who say Mr. Hawash's case is an example of how the Bush administration is holding a handful of American citizens without offering them normal legal protection.

The fact that this can happen at all is a frightening commentary on the current state of the U.S. federal government.

Possibly true...

[t0ny]

Now, since we dont really know any facts in the case, its quite possible their accusations could be true.

However, this whole holding without disclosure thing is what makes me uneasy. If they do have credibly accusations, they should be disclosed, or at the very least make the fact that he is being held a matter of public record. If they can just come in the middle of the night and take someone from their home with no accusation, or warrant, or justification, what makes them better than any other totalitarian regime?

I know the American way of life is something valuable to protect, but you cant protect it by violating the very rights and freedoms it stands for. IMO, Bush's vision for America is as bad as Saddam's vision of Iraq.

Im all for John Kerry's "Regime Change".

Re:Possibly true...

[Rasputin]

Actually, John Ashcroft was the primary author of the USA PATRIOT act, it passed congress, most representatives not bothering to read it...

According to Peter DeFazio (Representative from Oregon), the vast majority of the Congress wasn't even allowed to read it prior to the vote. DeFazio had to demand a copy in so he would know what was in it before the "debate".

I don't have a reference for the interview in which he said this - it was on the radio. However, here's a link to an article describing his stance on the bill.

Articles V and VI

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Ashcroft has done more damage to our country and our constituion than the terrorists could ever have dreamed of doing. The terrorists have won, and the current administration has done nothing but help them. I believe a regime change is needed indeed--vote against the regime in 2004.

Some past experience.

[CormacJ]

I grew up in Northern Ireland. In 1971 the UK governement decided that it could defeat terrorist by using internment. What happened was that the goverment identified who they thought would be likely IRA terrorists. There was no actual evidence involved, just people that the government didn't like. Snatch squads were sent out and people were taken and imprisoned without trial.

This is no different to what the US goverment is doing now.

The one thing that came out of internment in Northern Ireland was that it actually promoted support for the very terrorist organisation it was designed to crush.

Re:The U.S. government is increasingly corrupt.

[TekPolitik]

Panama, 1989. The U.S. government called it "Operation Just Cause". The link is to a U.S. military web site

I think they misspelled this. Shouldn't it be "Operation Just 'Cause"?

Re:The U.S. government is increasingly corrupt.

[Grizzlysmit]

I hate to tell you guys, but your country has become a police state, not a real real bad people disapeared left right and centre one, not yet but if due proccess can be subverted then a police state it is. I'm an Aussie I could Just say only in America, and assume that it doesn't affect me, but if one western nation can go this way how safe are the rest of us. This has to be stopped guys, for the sake of the people of the US, and for the sake of us all.