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Senate Passes Anti-Terrorism Bill
WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Senate passed a controversial anti-terrorism bill Thursday that broadens the authority of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. in dealing with what it deems potential terrorist threats.
The "Patriot Bill", formally known as the Mobilization Against Terrorism Act (MATA), is designed to give the government expanded police and surveillance powers in response to September 11 terror strikes on the United States. It also allows them to impose stricter immigration and finance bills in order to pre-empt "potential" or alleged terrorists.
The Senate approved the bill 98-1, after the House of Representatives passed it on Wednesday.
The bill must now go to the full House for a final vote and possible amendments.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said President George W. Bush was expected to sign the bill into law on Friday.
Civil rights leaders have been gravely concerned that an already threatened American Muslim and Arab community would bear the greatest brunt of the bill, as they did after the passage of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which came in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing - citing the increasing anti-Muslim and Arab sentiment on the street both before and after the attacks on September 11th.
Despite the fact that it was American dissident Timothy McVeigh who masterminded the deadly attack in Oklahoma, Muslims and Arabs were unequivocally the main victims of the secret evidence clause imbedded in the act, which allowed for the Department of Justice to imprison them, some for over 4 years, without ever charging them with a crime and without disclosing the evidence against them, denying them their constitutionally granted right of due process.
Of the roughly 30 people held on secret evidence, at least 25 were Arab and/or Muslim.
Since September 11, nearly 700 people, mostly of Middle Eastern background, have been detained under charges of immigration violations or on "material witness" orders, whereby the detainee is held because of personal encounters with those suspected to be behind the terror attacks.
The main points of the bill are as follows:
Surveillance: expands the authority to intercept wire, oral and electronic communications as well as share criminal investigative information, including allowing surveillance to follow a person who uses multiple communication devices or locations.
The bill also would broaden the type of records that law enforcement can obtain from electronic communications service providers, and authorizes courts to use nationwide search warrants for electronic surveillance.
Information sharing: authorizes the disclosure of foreign intelligence information obtained by such interception or by a grand jury to any federal law enforcement, intelligence, national security or immigration agency.
However, the information must meet legal definitions, and those who get the information may not use it outside set limits.
Detention powers: grants the attorney general the authority to hold aliens suspected of terrorist activity for up to seven days (currently limited to 48 hours) before bringing criminal charges or beginning deportation proceedings.
The Bush Administration had originally proposed detention without limit.
Borders: authorizes increased border personnel along the U.S.-Canada border.
Penalties: amends the definition of terrorism to say that an alien who solicits funds or membership or provides material support to a certified terrorist organization can be deported.
Increases civil and criminal penalties for money laundering.
Money laundering: gives the treasury secretary the authority to freeze certain interbank or payable-through accounts and gives U.S. courts "long-arm" jurisdiction over foreign persons committing money laundering offenses in the United States.
The bill would also allow the secretary to require identification of foreign beneficial owners of U.S. bank accounts.
Duration: a number of the measures included in the comprehensive bill, such as those on electronic surveillance, are to expire within four years, or by 2006, when Congress would re-examine the effectiveness of the measures.
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