GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - July 14 - Despite a pledge from President Obama to close Guantánamo and controversy over the legitimacy and continuation of the military commission system, several military commission proceedings will resume there this week. Jamil Dakwar, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Human Rights Program, and Denny LeBoeuf, Director of the ACLU John Adams Project, will observe the proceedings.

Hearings are scheduled for Wednesday that will focus on the Obama administration's request for an additional three-month delay in the cases of Mohammed Kamin, an Afghan detainee who has been held in U.S. custody for more than six years, and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, a Sudanese national who was among the first group of detainees transferred to Guantánamo in January 2002. Also Wednesday, a hearing is scheduled to approve the re-assignment of Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler as military counsel for Omar Khadr, a Canadian national slated to be tried for war crimes allegedly committed when he was 15.

On Thursday, a military commission will hear motions related to the competence hearings of Ramzi bin al Shibh and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi, two 9/11 defendants who are represented by civilian counsel from the John Adams Project.

Through its John Adams Project, the ACLU, in partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, is sponsoring civilian lawyers to assist the under-resourced military defense counsel representing Guantánamo detainees, including those accused in the 9/11 attacks.

More information about the John Adams Project is online at: www.aclu.org/johnadams
More information about the ACLU's call for President-elect Obama to shut down Guantánamo and end the military commissions is available online at: www.closegitmo.com