More on Civil Liberties

On a related front, Ahmed Abu Ali, an American citizen, has been held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia since June 2003. He has not been tried, and has had no access to legal representation. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said about Ali's case:

The government’s “position is as striking as it is sweeping," the judge said. He warned that its behavior would allow the government to arrest people and deliver them to another country in order to avoid constitutional scrutiny, or even "to deliver American citizens to foreign governments to obtain information through the use of torture."

Recently, Federal prosecutors have asked this same judge to dismiss the challenge to Ali's imprisonment made by Ali's parents. He is being asked to rule based on secret evidence that no defense attorney is allowed to review.