Why Does Interpol Need Immunity from American Law?

THE CORNER, 12/23/2009 by Andy McCarthy (Hat tip: Nic, Lee, Jean) - You just can't make up how brazen this crowd is. One week ago, President Obama quietly signed an executive order that makes an international police force immune from the restraints of American law.

[Excerpt from article] "Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?"

Interpol is the shorthand for the International Criminal Police Organization. It was established in 1923 and operates in about 188 countries. By executive order 12425, issued in 1983, President Reagan recognized Interpol as an international organization and gave it some of the privileges and immunities customarily extended to foreign diplomats. Interpol, however, is also an active law-enforcement agency, so critical privileges and immunities (set forth in Section 2(c) of the International Organizations Immunities Act) were withheld. Specifically, Interpol's property and assets remained subject to search and seizure, and its archived records remained subject to public scrutiny under provisions like the Freedom of Information Act. Being constrained by the Fourth Amendment, FOIA, and other limitations of the Constitution and federal law that protect the liberty and privacy of Americans is what prevents law-enforcement and its controlling government authority from becoming tyrannical.

On Wednesday [? Thurs., Dec. 17], however, for no apparent reason, President Obama issued an executive order removing the Reagan limitations. That is, Interpol's property and assets are no longer subject to search and confiscation, and its archives are now considered inviolable. This international police force (whose U.S. headquarters is in the Justice Department in Washington) will be unrestrained by the U.S. Constitution and American law while it operates in the United States and affects both Americans and American interests outside the United States.

Interpol works closely with international tribunals (such as the International Criminal Court — which the United States has refused to join because of its sovereignty surrendering provisions, though top Obama officials want us in it). It also works closely with foreign courts and law-enforcement authorities (such as those in Europe that are investigating former Bush administration officials for purported war crimes — i.e., for actions taken in America's defense).

Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?

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Steve Schippert [and Clyde Middleton] have more at ThreatsWatch.org: Wither Sovereignty [Includes Executive Order as amended]

Also see UN Dispatch: Interpol Under Siege by Uninformed Bloggers (Comments are especially interesting --bc) Read More......

Justice Department misconstrues Sovereign Immunity

Hat tip to "Anonymous" for providing follow up information on this 6/3/2009 article: WND - Obama administration supports Saudi immunity in 9/11 lawsuit.

TITLE: Justice Department's Brief Supporting Immunity for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 9/11 Victim's Suit Misconstrues Sovereign Immunity and Jurisdictional Scope of the Anti-Terrorism Act, According to Family of 9/11 Victim and Former FBI Agent John O'Neill

WASHINGTON, June 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from the family of John O'Neill, a retired Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations with over 25 years of service in positions including head of the Counter-terrorism section and head of the National Security Division of the New York Field Office. Mr. O'Neill died on September 11, 2001, along with close to 3,000 other innocent individuals in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. At the time of his death, he was Director of Security at the World Trade Center and was killed assisting with the evacuation that ensured thousands made it to safety while sacrificing his own life so that others might live.

The O'Neill family stated: Read more here... Read More......

WND: Obama administration supports Saudi immunity in 9/11 lawsuit

Brief seeking to deny Americans access to court remedies for attack - The Obama administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Saudi Arabia
and four of its princes from being held accountable for their alleged role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States that killed almost 3,000 Americans, according to a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Families of the 9/11 victims, however, have expressed outrage over the Obama administration's filing. They regard the action as undermining the continuing fight against terror.

Read more at WorldNetDaily... Read More......