Human Rights Defender Lynne Stewart found guilty
Lynne Stewart, a New York based human rights lawyer, was convicted on 10th February 2005 on five charges including providing material support to terrorists and defrauding the government. The charges arose as a result of her legal representation of Sheik Omar Ali Abdel Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of plotting terrorism against the United States. Anti-terrorism legislation and practices in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks have made human rights defenders in the United States increasingly vulnerable to repressive consequences, especially defense attorneys with a commitment to protecting civil liberties. Front Line is concerned that the prosecution of Lynne Stewart was politically motivated (Attorney General Ashcroft had announced Stewart’s arrest on television as a significant development in the fight against terror) and is intended to intimidate lawyers working to defend the rights of those facing terrorism charges. Lynne Stewart is one of twelve cases featured in Front Line USA: Threats, Attacks, Arrests and Harassment of Human Rights Defenders published in May 2004. She remains free on bail pending sentencing on 15th July when she could face up to 45 years in prison. "I hope this is a wake up call to all the citizens of this country" said Lynne Stewart, "When you put Osama bin Laden in a courtroom and ask the jury to ignore it, you're asking a lot." She has announced that she will appeal against her conviction.
Interviewed after the verdict Lynne Stewart's lawyer Michael Tigar stated:
"The only way that we will ever get to the bottom of the American concentration camp abuses at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib is that if the lawyers for these prisoners are permitted to tell their stories to the world. If the government can shut off that communication, which they have attempted to do over and over and over again, these activities will continue in secret, blessed as they are by the highest officials of government in a country which has for the first time in its history given a cabinet job to a fellow who says that the Geneva Convention is obsolete and that the torture memo doesn’t mean anything.
Every lawyer who wants to represent somebody at Guantanamo, every lawyer who wants to represent somebody being held by the United States under these conditions of detention is now being asked to sign various agreements. I agree my meetings won't be confidential, I agree I'll do this, I agree I’ll do that, all of which limit the lawyer's ability to function as a lawyer. Lawyers are battling against these restrictions. From time to time some of them may feel as matter of interpretation as Lynne did in good faith, this can't possibly mean that I can't do this. It's that threat that they face. It is the chilling effect on a profession -- only a minority of whose members are willing to shoulder the obligation to represent the oppressed that is at stake here."
When asked about exactly how many years she faces in prison Lynne Stewart said:
"Well, you know, I'm 65. I have just begun to collect my social security. It is probably a “mute point,” as some of my clients would say, that is, whatever the time is, it is probably going to be too much. But I think that the number is 45, would be a maximum. We have very little doubt that the government will continue its ways, ask for an extra enhancement based on the “terrorism connections.” All of these things, but we are going to fight that in due course and if I have to go to jail, I noticed that yesterday, the day I was convicted, was the same day that Nelson Mandela walked out of prison, and he did 27 years, and we can name so many people that had to do time before they came to the revolutionary moment. So for that reason, whatever it has to be, it has to be. We're going to fight it all the way and we will organize as we go."