Snooping powers proposal attacked

By ANDREW BUNCOMBE in Washington

Civil rights campaigners have criticised proposals to strengthen the already comprehensive powers of American law-enforcement agencies by drafting a second Patriot Act.

The controversial USA Patriot Act, passed soon after the terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, granted sweeping powers to the FBI and police to use information gathered from intelligence agencies to monitor and spy on American citizens suspected of subversive activities.

But new proposals being drafted by the Justice Department would expand those powers considerably by authorising secret arrests, creating a new DNA database, scrapping judicial oversight of police surveillance and even removing citizenship from suspects.

Drafts of the proposals, entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, have been circulating within the upper echelons of the Bush Administration for some weeks, though they have not yet been formally released.

But enough information has emerged to trigger concern among civil libertarians. David Cole, a professor of law at Georgetown University and author of Terrorism and the Constitution, reviewed the draft legislation for the Centre for Public Integrity, which obtained a copy.

He said the draft legislation "raises a lot of serious concerns".

"It's troubling that they have gotten this far along and they've been telling people there is nothing in the works.

"This would radically expand law enforcement and intelligence gathering authorities, reduce or eliminate judicial oversight over surveillance, authorise secret arrests, create a DNA database based on unchecked executive suspicion, create new death penalties, and even seek to take American citizenship away from persons who belong to or support disfavoured political groups."

Critics say Attorney-General John Ashcroft would have powers normally reserved for wartime.

Gregory Nojeim, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "The initial USA Patriot Act undercut many of the traditional checks and balances on Government power. The new Ashcroft proposal threatens to fundamentally alter the constitutional protections that allow us to be both safe and free.

"By seeking to overturn court-approved limits against police spying on political and religious activities, allowing for increased Government surveillance and the ability to wiretap without going to court, the latest Ashcroft proposal would do serious harm to civil liberties in America."

The Justice Department said: "It would be premature to speculate on any future decisions, particularly ideas or proposals that are still being discussed at staff levels."

- INDEPENDENT