Markey decries portion of 9/11 bill
Says deporting of terror suspects invites torture
WASHINGTON -- US Representative Edward Markey and a group of human rights leaders yesterday called upon congressional Republicans to strip a provision that would legalize the deportation of suspected terrorists to countries likely to torture them from a bill intended to implement some of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.
Calling the proposal ''offshoring of torture," the Malden Democrat said the provision would violate US treaty obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture, erode respect for the United States, make a mockery of vows against torture taken by US leaders after the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, and increase the risk that American captives would be tortured by others.
''Republicans in the House apparently think that torture done quietly for us by others is something that not only shouldn't be challenged, but actually should be encouraged as long as it's done discreetly," Markey told reporters.
At issue are two sections of the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act of 2004, which the House of Representatives is expected to vote on this week. The bill is a response to the 9/11 Commission's call for one national intelligence director to oversee the country's 15 spy agencies.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, added provisions that would exclude suspected terrorists and certain criminals from the protection of the torture convention, which prohibits its signatories from deporting someone to a country likely to torture them. The US Senate ratified the treaty in 1994.
The proposal would put the burden of proof on the person being sent away to establish ''by clear and convincing evidence that he or she would be tortured," a harder standard to meet than current immigration regulations require. And it would bar the federal courts from having jurisdiction to review the new rules.
US Representatives John Hostettler and Lamar Smith, Republicans of Indiana and Texas, defend the provisions as necessary to prevent terrorists and criminals from being released to the streets instead of being deported if they contend their home country will torture them. ''Without this provision, your constituents will continue to be in danger," they wrote to colleagues, adding that 500 immigrants with criminal records have been released in the United States after saying they would be tortured if deported.
Wendy Patten of Human Rights Watch said there are other ways to keep illegal immigrants suspected of crimes off the streets, including prosecuting them or allowing them to go to some other country.
''It comes down to a simple question of right or wrong," she said. ''There are certain principles that the US must stand for, and we believe that we must uphold. One of them is that we are opposed to torture in all its forms, wherever it happens in the world."
In a letter to the editor of The 
