According to The Latin Americanist, the president of Paraguay has been given emergency powers to crack down on leftist rebels there.
The new law suspends public gatherings and the right to due process in five northern provinces during a span of thirty days. "We want to make clear that this measure does not alter the democratic norm in our country," Lugo said after signing the law yesterday.
The concept of taking away civil rights in the name of fighting terrorism or supposed insurgency seems to have become the norm. Saying that the revoked rights still exist doesn't make it so. There are bad people in the world but there is also such a thing as due process. What supporters of these sorts of laws fail to understand is that the rights don't come back to them with a change of powers. Due process is in place to protect *everyone*. I recall with sadness a conversation I had with a friend about wiretapping in the days closely following the 9/11 attacks. I pointed out to him that if the government could tap our phones then, what was to stop them when the Democrats were in office. His response? "I don't care - it's my party that's in power now."
Freedom is something we should cherish and protect.
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