Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch

a right to counsel. Before interrogating material witnesses, federal officers must
again inform them of their rights, including the right to counsel.
• Court hearings and records in material witness cases should be presumptively
open. The Justice Department should not seek to close hearings or seal records
except to the limited extent that closure is the least restrictive means to further
some other compelling government interest.
To the Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility
• Ensure that the FBI and U.S. Attorneys are not using the material witness law to
circumvent probable cause and other requirements governing the arrest of
criminal suspects.
To the Inspector General
• Initiate a review of the Department of Justice’s use of the material witness law in
connection with terrorism investigations since September 11.
To Congress
To the Judiciary Committee
• Request that the Justice Department update Congress on the status of all
material witnesses arrested in connection with the September 11 terrorism
investigations and provide their names, length of and basis for their detention
and whether they testified.
• Urge the Department of Justice Inspector General to investigate the misuse of
the material witness law since September 11 to detain criminal suspects without
charges.
• Hold public hearings on the Department of Justice’s misuse of the material
witness law to hold criminal suspects.
To the House and Senate
• Amend the material witness law to incorporate measures to prevent its misuse
and to increase protections of the right to liberty, including:
o strengthening the burden of proof that the government must meet to
arrest and detain material witnesses;
o establishing a specific time limit on the government’s ability to hold a
material witness;
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17, NO. 2(G) 8