guantanamo

Obama Takes a Hit on Guantánamo

WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats, dissatisfied with President Obama's lack of a detailed plan to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison, yesterday rejected his request for $80 million to transfer the 240 detainees still held there, a high-profile rebuke to Obama, who has pledged to close the facility within a year of taking office.

Posted in guantanamo

Guantanamo: A Prison Built On Lies

As the Obama administration prepares to relaunch Dick Cheney and David Addington's reviled Military Commissions (with claims that they will be used for less than 20 of the 240 prisoners still held), senior officials have been largely silent about the eventual fate of the rest of the prison's population, with the exception of a few Posted in guantanamo, torture

Pain at Guantánamo and Paralysis in Government

Although I reported last week about an important court case in favor of Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, a Yemeni prisoner in Guantánamo, there was little in the way of progress, during the first 115 days of the Obama administration, for the men who are still held, despite the president's pledge to close the prison within a year.

Posted in guantanamo, obama

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2009
4:49 PM

CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
press@ccrjustice.org

Center for Constitutional Rights Urges Obama Administration to Abandon Failed Guantanamo Military Commissions

NEW YORK - May 15 - In response to President Obama's announcement of his plans to revive the military commissions at Guantanamo, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), issued the following statement:

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The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Links:

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2009
1:04 PM

CONTACT: ACLU

Rachel Myers, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org

Obama Administration to Revive Fatally Flawed Military Commissions

Decision Strikes Blow to Due Process and Rule of Law

NEW YORK - May 15 - In a striking blow to due process and the rule of law, the Obama administration has decided to revive the fatally flawed military commissions system to prosecute certain Guantánamo detainees, according to news reports.

The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:

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The ACLU conserves America's original civic values working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

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Posted in civil liberties, Equality/Justice, guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2009
12:51 PM

CONTACT: Amnesty International - USA

AIUSA media office, 202-544-0200 x302, lspann@aiusa.org

Obama Breaks Major Campaign Promise as Military Commissions Resume, Says Amnesty International

Human Rights Organization Reiterates Call for Detainees to be Tried in US Federal Courts

WASHINGTON - May 15 - In response to President Barack Obama restarting the military commissions at the U.S.-controlled detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Amnesty International's executive director Larry Cox issued the following statement:

"President Obama is reinstating the same deeply-flawed military commissions that in June 2008 he called an 'enormous failure.' In one swift move, Obama both backtracks on a major campaign promise to change the way the United States fights terrorism and undermines the nation's core respect for the rule of law by sacrificing due process for political expediency.

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We are people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. We investigate and expose abuses, educate and mobilize the public, and help transform societies to create a safer, more just world.

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Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo, Human Rights

Obama to Revive Guantánamo Military Tribunals

Barack Obama will revive the heavily criticised George Bush-era military tribunals for detainees at Guantánamo Bay but will make them fairer, according to US officials.

Obama suspended the tribunals within hours of taking office in January, ordering a review of the military commission system. But he stopped short of abandoning the process altogether.

The military trials will remain frozen for another four months as the administration adjusts the legal system - expected to try fewer than 20 of the 241 detainees at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo

Little Known Military Thug Squad Still Brutalizing Prisoners at Gitmo Under Obama

As the Obama administration continues to fight the release of some 2,000 photos that graphically document U.S. military abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, an ongoing Spanish investigation is adding harrowing details to the ever-emerging portrait of the torture inside and outside Guantánamo. Among them: "blows to [the] testicles;" "detention underground in total darkness for three weeks with deprivation of food and sleep;" being "inoculated ...

Posted in guantanamo, obama, torture

Judge Condemns 'Mosaic' of Guantánamo Intelligence and Unreliable Witnesses

David Remes, an attorney for 16 Yemeni prisoners in Guantánamo, claimed today that the government’s detention policy was “in tatters,” after District Court Judge Gladys Kessler (photo, below) comprehensively demolished the Justice Department’s case against a Yemeni prisoner held in Guantánamo without charge or trial for seven years (PDF).

Posted in guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2009
2:51 PM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Tel: +1-212-216-1832
Email: hrwpress@hrw.org

US: Don’t Revive Guantanamo Military Commissions

Detainee Cases Should Be Transferred to US Federal Courts

WASHINGTON - May 12 - Reviving the discredited US military commissions to try Guantanamo detainees would result in needless litigation, delays, and flawed trials, Human Rights Watch said today. To ensure that terrorism suspects are tried promptly and fairly, the Guantanamo cases should be transferred to US federal courts.

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Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

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