Terrorism should not be taken lightly, especially after the events on 9/11.

That being said, it’s essential that threats made toward the president’s life are addressed with the proper post-9/11 mindset and appropriate consequences, but not if civil rights are violated by doing so.

Last week, detainee Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison. A long list of conspiracy charges was brought against him, which include providing resources and contributing services to Al Qaida, plotting to assassinate President Bush and conspiring to commit air piracy, according to U.S. Newswire.

The main problem with Abu Ali’s conviction, though, is that he was coerced into confessing – his rights were infringed upon.

By no means is this ethical.

Abu Ali was unlawfully detained without the right to a lawyer. In order to confine him in Saudi Arabia, the FBI lied to Abu Ali’s parents and their family lawyer about him being able to return to the United States, according to www.findlaw.com.

Abu Ali was tortured until a confession was coerced out of him.

Torture, in all forms, is abominable. But it has been historically used by almost every nation as a form of societal control used to instill fear in people and extract supposedly vital information from a person.

It isn’t hard to imagine yourself the victim of such interrogations and ask yourself the burning question: Just how much pain could I endure before confessing, even if I were innocent? It’s just basic human nature to want to end – by any means necessary – the physical and mental pain and humiliation that a victim of torture is subjected to.

This aspect of Abu Ali’s case is especially relevant, especially since recent attempts to include the Geneva Convention’s protections against torture in the U.S. Constitution have been shot down by President Bush. He’s gone so far as to threaten vetoing the proposed bill if the CIA isn’t exempted from it.

Even though Abu Ali was in Saudi Arabia, he was should have been guaranteed U.S. Constitutional rights because he was in U.S. custody.

He was not.

Worse, if you read the actual indictment released to the public, it’s apparent that Abu Ali was never directly linked with any terrorist acts or events, but merely became guilty by association.

Obviously, terrorism is just as abhorrent as torture and, of course, threats should be dealt with. But they should be handled legitimately.

Today, American citizens and prisoners of war in U.S. custody are harassed and tortured solely because of weak allegations and unfortunate associations.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the miliary need gather hard evidence and prosecute terrorists legally, according to the constitutional laws we claim to hold dear.

We should not be beating confessions out of people.

-Sarah Martin is an English graduate student.

-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.