Over 40 Muslim, South Asian, and Arab-American Organizations Call on President Obama to Veto NDAA


December 15, 2011

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We, the undersigned Muslim, South Asian, and Arab American community organizations and bar associations, write to express our strong and unequivocal opposition to the military detention provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"), and to urge you to stand by your commitment to veto the bill if it reaches your desk.

The NDAA, as currently drafted, will endanger the fundamental civil rights and liberties upon which this country was founded. Subsection D of the NDAA may be read to authorize the indefinite military detention of U.S. citizens or other persons seized within the United States whenever the executive believes that they are "affiliated" with al Qaeda. Even more alarmingly, we fear it will be interpreted to require such detention in many cases. Whereas Article III of our Constitution remits similarly serious charges to the federal courts and installs stringent evidentiary rules, the NDAA allows for mere allegation to strip a citizen or lawful permanent resident of core constitutional rights, including (but not limited to) the right to remain silent, the right to a jury trial, the right to counsel, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to confront witnesses. Another section of the NDAA turns this option into a mandate--perhaps forcing the executive to treat suspicion as sufficient to snuff out constitutional rights.

This bill places all Americans at risk. But the burden of these provisions will be predictably felt by a discrete minority - American Muslims. This is not the first time since the terrible events of 9/11 that lawmakers have reacted to the threat of a small group of violent extremists by imposing systematic and onerous deprivations of core American liberties on all Americans and all members of a community based on their religion. The NDAA opens the gateway to indefinite detention without official charges, allegations, or the guarantee of a trial.

Accordingly, provisions of the bill flout the basic principles of both liberty and equality upon which the Constitution rests. We cannot overstate the seriousness of the threat posed by the NDAA to basic American values. Not since the Japanese American internments of World War II has military detention been mandated on American soil. History revealed that the alleged threat then from a 'fifth column' was wholly illusory. In 1971, Congress wisely passed the Non-Detention Act to ensure that we would never again resort to the sweeping and indefinite detention measures employed in the 1940s. But today, we risk repeating what was one of the darkest chapters in American history.

These provisions are contained in Subtitle D on Counterterrorism of the version of the bill at emerged from the Conference Committee.

Each of the chief national security agencies of the federal government, ranging from the CIA to the Department of Justice, have categorically opposed the NDAA's approach to military detention. As Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson has recently explained, "©ivilian courts have a broader scope, allowing for the prosecution of many offenses that cannot be adjudicated in military commissions . . . to resort to the courts our Founding Fathers established in Article III of our Constitution is not only in and of our tradition, it is a part of the very fabric of our nation."

The NDAA tears at our constitutional fabric. It sanctions unchecked military power,
disregards fundamental due process, undermines the role of the federal judiciary in prosecuting suspected terrorism cases, and risks trampling on basic rights. An unequivocal presidential veto to the NDAA is warranted.

We appreciate your attention to this matter.

Respectfully,

American Coalition for Good Government
American Muslim Voice
American Pakistan Foundation
Arab American Association of New York
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Arab Community Center For Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)
Arab Muslim American Federation (AMAF)
Association of Muslim American Lawyers (AMAL)
Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)
Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan (CIOM)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Council of Pakistan American Affairs
DRUM - Desis Rising Up & Moving
Emerge-USA
Florida Islamic Association (FIA) Shura Committee
Florida Muslim Bar Association
Indian Muslim Relief & Charities (IMRC)
Islamic Foundation, Villa Park, Illinois
Islamic Information Center
The Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan NY
Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH)
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
Michigan Muslim Bar Association
The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Alliance in North America
Muslim American Society (MAS)
Muslim Bar Association of Chicago
Muslim Bar Association of Southern California
Muslim Consultative Network (MCN)
Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)
Muslim Peace Coalition USA
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
The National Muslim Law Students Association
New England Muslim Bar Association
Northern California Islamic Council
Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C)
Somali Action Alliance
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian Network (SAN)
Universal School at Buffalo, NY
USPAK Foundation
Women in Islam, Inc.