Overzealous Homeland Security Causes Death in the US

[Ivo Skoric]

Malaysian dictatorship, for example, gave a lot of praise to Bush 
government following 9/11: they said that the PatriotAct greatly 
resembles their cherished Internal Security Act, which they have in 
place since the 60-s, enabling them to keep 'threats to national 
security' indefinitely detained without a trial!

Here is the recent story of the scope and power of the PatriotAct to 
destroy an innocent human life:
On May 6, 39-year-old Japanese citizen Ayumi Hayashida 
committed suicide by hanging herself while awaiting deportation in a
federal holding cell at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. Her return
flight to Japan was scheduled for May 8. Hayashida was reportedly
traveling from Toyko to Cincinnati to visit her boyfriend when
she landed in Chicago on May 5. She was taken into federal
custody because she had overstayed a previous visit to the US,
said Gail Montenegro, a spokesperson for the US Bureau of 
Customs and Border Protection (BCBP). Hayashida was the only 
person in custody at the BCBP offices at the airport's Terminal 5, 
which handles international flights. At 9pm on May 6, she asked for 
a cigarette but was not allowed to have one. She made no other
requests, and guards had been checking on her every 15 to 30
minutes, Montenegro said. At around 9:45pm she was found 
hanging in the toilet area of the cell, which is behind a partition. The
Cook County medical examiner's office ruled the death a suicide.
[Chicago Sun-Times 5/8/03]