As White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales defended the detention of terrorist suspects without access to lawyers, and the abusive interrogation tactics used at Abu Ghraib.
from Immigration News Briefs (INB)
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced on Nov. 9 that he would
resign. Ashcroft was favored by Christian fundamentalist sectors
of the Republican political base and was widely criticized by
rights advocates for his antagonism toward immigrants and civil
liberties. Ashcroft presided over a federal dragnet that
apprehended and deported hundreds of Arabs and South Asians on
immigration violations under the pretext of the “war on terror.”
[New York Times 11/10/04; Washington Post 11/10/04]On Nov. 10, President George W. Bush nominated White House
counsel Alberto Gonzales to succeed Ashcroft as attorney general.
Gonzales has publicly defended the Bush administration’s policy
of detaining terrorism suspects for extended periods without
access to lawyers or courts. He is best known for his January 25,
2002 memo stating that the “war against terrorism” creates a “new
paradigm” which “renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on
questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its
provisions.” Gonzales must be confirmed by the Senate before he
can take office. [AP 11/10/04; ACLU Press Release 11/10/04;
American Progress 11/10/04]
