by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Ilse Biel left South Africa for America during the apartheid years.
"A lot of what is happening in this country now reminds me of 1980s in South Africa," she said. "The censorships, the torture in Guantanamo, this disregard for human dignity - it just really concerns me that I've got this dÇjÖ vu feeling."
Biel, president of UNM's Amnesty International chapter, organized a screening of the film, "Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties" in the SUB on Wednesday night.
The film explores how the Patriot Act is endangering the moral thread of America, Biel said.
She said she loves the Constitution of the United States, and when she saw something that went against it, like the Patriot Act, she felt she needed to do something about it.
The Patriot Act was passed after Sept. 11, 2001, as a way to track down terrorists by allowing government access to private information.
However, many people feel the act is exploiting our fear of terrorism as a way to push other hidden political agendas, according to the film.
Graduate student Daniel Mirell volunteers with Amnesty International. He said in 2001, the Senate almost unanimously passed the Patriot Act. Sunset provisions in the act mean the legality of unregulated electronic surveillance, e-mail searches and wire tapping will expire Dec. 31, 2005, unless lawmakers take action.
Biel said campuses across the country are joining together to raise awareness about the Patriot Act's sunset clauses this week.
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The film addresses questions such as "What would the Founding Fathers think? What does freedom mean and why should we care?"
The film asserts the bill was printed at 3:45 a.m. the morning and was to be presented to the Senate seven hours later. No one could have read its 345 pages in that time, the film states.
There is speculation as to whether the senators knew what they signed, according to the film, and the bill's name is supposed to make people who oppose the act seem unpatriotic.
"It made me very disappointed in our government for raising the Patriot Act, and infuriated too," student Brian Douglas said. "For those who are in agreement with the act, read it. See how absolutely messed up it really is."
Biel said the group feels it is extremely important provisions of the act expire on Dec. 31.
"The administration is already starting to campaign to do away with the sunset clause so that those provisions just become part of the Patriot Act," she said.
Student Ian Wright said the film presents an accurate portrayal of the act.
"It should leave you feeling angry and disappointed with America," he said. "Please watch this film."
Arabs who were treated unfairly based on the stereotypes resulting from the mad panic of the government after Sept. 11 were interviewed in the film. A woman in the film asked the question, "They've changed the character of America, but have they made it any safer?"
