NEW YORK - November 17 – Today a federal judge denied attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) access to their client, Guantánamo detainee Majid Khan a Baltimore, Maryland resident recently transferred to detention in Guantánamo after three years imprisonment in secret CIA black sites. The court ruled that it could not order the government to allow Mr. Khan's attorney to meet with him until the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decides whether federal courts still have jurisdiction over Guantánamo detainees' habeas cases after the passage of the Military Commission Act of 2006. This question is before the Court of Appeals in the consolidated cases Al Odah v. United States of America and Boumediene v. Bush, litigated by CCR along with co-counsel. The jurisdictional question will be fully briefed before the Court of Appeals on November 20, 2006.

In its Order in Mr. Kahn's case, the District Court urged the government to address Mr. Khan's medical and psychological state: "While awaiting the District of Columbia Circuit's decision, the Court encourages the respondents to medically evaluate Khan to assess his mental and physical health, if this has not already been done, and to file with this Court a report of his condition and whether he is in need of and is receiving treatment for any physical or mental conditions, so that this information can be made available to putative counsel and Khan's family." CCR attorneys demand that the government comply.

CCR attorney Gitanjali Gutierrez said, "Majid Khan has been held for more than three years in secret CIA black sites in which the prevalence of torture and abuse is well-documented. The government has not charged him with a crime nor afforded him any hearing whatsoever in these three years. His state of mental and physical health is in serious question. The longer his access to a lawyer is denied, the more damage it will cause to his ability to remember details and facts necessary to challenge his imprisonment and torture. At a minimum, the government must heed the Court's warning and maintain transparency on the question of Mr. Khan's condition for the sake of his family and his ability to enforce his legal rights."

Mr. Khan graduated from high school in Baltimore, MD, and his family only learned he was alive in September.

For documents and more information on the case, visit www.ccr-ny.org.

About CCR

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

###