Why Must We Restore and Protect Civil Liberties?

Background

Every day, more and more evidence surfaces showing that our fundamental rights and freedoms have been eroded by policies and laws introduced after 9/11 in the guise of national security. The right to due process of law, right to privacy, and freedom from torture — laws that protect citizens against undue government powers — have been systemically violated, redrawing the legal and moral landscape of our country and the world community.

While the Obama administration has shown signs of restoring civil liberties, laws such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the USA Patriot Act, and the Military Commissions Act are still in effect. And too often, their targets are law-abiding Arab and Muslim Americans.

Unfortunately, contributing to this, what most Americans see on television and read in newspapers about Arabs and Muslims are examples of terror attacks, the repression of women, and riots. As a result, in this country, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be Arab and Muslim.

Yet, according to a 2009 Gallup Center for Muslim Studies report, Muslim Americans are one of the most diverse religious groups in the United States — racially, economically, and politically.

So far, this story of diversity has not been well told.

UUSC's work to restore civil liberties

To confront these challenges, UUSC has developed Building Bridges for Civil Liberties, a comprehensive project aimed at building meaningful relationships between diverse communities in the United States. Creating and nurturing opportunities for our constituents to mobilize and act is an important part of UUSC's strategy to restoring and protecting civil liberties and human rights for all Americans.