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.

###

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.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Links:

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo, Human Rights

Obama Can't Fix the Military Commissions

I watched the inauguration of President Obama from Guantánamo. Military and civilian defense lawyers had been in pretrial hearings in the 9/11 death penalty cases only the day before, and were scheduled to return to a military commissions court the day after the inauguration. But late that evening came word that the new president had ordered a halt to the military commissions while his administration determined whether the cases should be prosecuted in federal civilian courts.

Posted in guantanamo, military commissions, torture

Government Could Destroy Records in Hundreds of Guantanamo Cases

A stockpile of documents about hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees, some authored by the prisoners themselves, could be destroyed under a little-known provision of a federal court order the Bush administration obtained in 2004.

Posted in guantanamo

New Chief Prosecutor Appointed For Military Commissions At Guantánamo

In a development that will only fuel suspicions that the Obama administration is indeed planning to revive the Bush administration's much-criticized system of trials by Military Commission at Guantánamo (as flagged up by defense secretary Robert Gates in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee last week), I have just learned that the Commissions' Chief Prosecutor, Col. Lawrence Morris, is retiring from active duty, and will be replaced by Capt.

Posted in guantanamo, military commissions

Obama Returns to Bush Era on Guantánamo

Two distressing pieces of news emerged last week regarding the Obama administration's plans to close Guantánamo, and both were delivered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Posted in guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2009
4:01 PM

CONTACT: ACLU
Mandy Simon, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

Guantánamo Military Commissions Should Not Be Revived, Says ACLU

Prosecutions Should Occur in Well-Equipped Criminal Justice System

WASHINGTON - May 4 - Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Eric Holder have recently suggested that the Obama administration is considering reviving the failed Guantanamo military commissions, and administration officials have reportedly stated this could happen imminently.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the Washington Legislative Office of the American Civil Liberties Union:

###

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.

ACLU Links:

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo, military commissions

Problem of Guantánamo Detainees Returns to Haunt Barack Obama

President Obama is on the verge of breaking two key campaign promises in his troubled attempt to shut Guantánamo Bay - with plans to revive the military tribunal system set up by George Bush and to continue the indefinite detention of up to 100 inmates.

The moves, which have not yet been signed off by Mr Obama but look increasingly likely, are a result of his promise on his second day in office to shut the Guantánamo Bay prison within a year.

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo, military commissions

US May Revive Guantánamo Military Courts

The Obama administration is moving toward reviving the military commission system for prosecuting Guantánamo detainees, which was a target of critics during the Bush administration, including Mr. Obama himself.

Officials said the first public moves could come as soon as next week, perhaps in filings to military judges at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, outlining an administration plan to amend the Bush administration's system to provide more legal protections for terrorism suspects.

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2009
12:40 PM

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

EU Should Help Close Guantanamo by Resettling Detainees

US Attorney General Can Speed Process by Taking in Uighurs

WASHINGTON - April 29 - European countries should help the Obama administration close the Guantanamo Bay prison by offering to resettle some detainees who face torture at home, Human Rights Watch said today. US Attorney General Eric Holder is in Europe this week to discuss Guantanamo resettlement and other issues.

"European countries have long called on the United States to close Guantanamo," said Stacy Sullivan, counterterrorism adviser at Human Rights Watch.

###

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Links:

Posted in guantanamo, Human Rights

Spanish Judge Opens Probe into Guantanamo Torture

MADRID - A Spanish judge on Wednesday opened an investigation into an alleged "systematic programme" of torture at the US Guantanamo Bay detention camp, following accusations by four former prisoners.

Judge Baltasar Garzon will probe the "perpetrators, the instigators, the necessary collaborators and accomplices" to crimes of torture at the prison at the US naval base in southern Cuba, he said in his ruling, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

Posted in Equality/Justice, guantanamo, prosecuting bush, torture