As citizens of the United States of America, we are entitled to certain freedoms.

My freedom of the press allows me to share my thoughts with you in this column. We have the freedom to vote, protest the government and practice any religion we please.

We also, according to the constitution, have the right to a fair trial and the right to not be held in jail without probable cause.

However, these are freedoms that today’s government has decided to overlook in the face of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

American citizens and those seeking refuge in our country are having their civil rights violated in the name of peace and national security.

The government is taking advantage of the public’s fear of another terrorist attack to make all foreigners suspected terrorists and to unreasonably detain their suspects in military

custody.

Last May, when Jose Padilla was arrested for allegedly being part of an al Qaeda plot to build and set off a dirty bomb, he was declared an enemy combatant by President Bush and put into military custody indefinitely.

Padilla is an American citizen who grew up in Chicago, and while he may or may not have not been plotting a heinous crime, he still deserves to be treated like an American citizen.

The government is treating Padilla like a caged rat by keeping him in military custody, where he cannot be contacted, without saying when and if he will go to trial.

Just because someone who commits a crime is of the Muslim faith and has ties to our enemy, it does not mean they can suddenly be stripped of freedoms that should be inherent to them as an American

citizen.

What makes Padilla different than everyone else who commits a crime? Or anyone else who is entitled to be in a state penetentiary with the right to a speedy trial and a jury by his peers?

We cannot be so scared of the possibility of future attacks that we lose track of the way of life we have come to cherish. This is not supposed to be a country where people are singled out for practicing a certain religion or being from a specific country.

To me, there is nothing more frightening than a loss of our personal freedoms.

Not only is the government shoving “potential terrorists” into military custody, but they also are locking up people who come to the United States to flee the type of oppression we supposedly are trying to save them from.

Last November, Attorney General John Ashcroft made new rules allowing the justice department to detain immigrants under special circumstances like security and terrorism concerns.

This allows the justice department to throw refugees from countries like Iraq and Iran into prison, although they have committed no actual crime, until the government can do background checks on them.

If Americans truly do stand for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they should not stand for such treatment of those who are desperately

seeking our aid.

*Amber Williams is the Associate news editor and semi-monthly columnist

for The Daily Eastern News. Williams also is a senior journalism major.

Reach her at 581-2812 or [email protected]