February, 23 2009, 04:00pm EDT
![Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012668/origin.png)
CCR Releases Independent Report on Current Conditions at Guantanamo, Calls for Closure of Camps 5, 6, and Echo
Center for Constitutional Rights Experts Dispute Government Assertion That Guantánamo Complies With Geneva Conventions
NEW YORK
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) released
a report on the current conditions in Camps 5, 6, and Echo following
the press conference today of Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the vice chief of
naval operations, who delivered his own report on conditions to the
White House on Friday. Adm. Walsh determined in his report that
conditions at the base meet the standards of the Geneva Conventions, an
assertion the attorneys dispute.
CCR's report, "Conditions of Confinement at Guantanamo: Still in
Violation of the Law," covers conditions at Guantanamo in January and
February 2009 and includes new eyewitness accounts from attorneys and
detainees. The authors address continuing abusive conditions at the
prison camp, including conditions of confinement that violate U.S.
obligations under the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. Constitution and
international human rights law.
"The men at Guantanamo are deteriorating at a rapid rate due to the
harsh conditions that continue to this day, despite a few cosmetic
changes to their routines," said CCR Staff Attorney Pardiss Kebriaei.
"They are caught in a vicious cycle where their isolation causes
psychological damage, which causes them to act out, which brings more
abuse and keeps them in isolation. If they are going to be there
another year, or even another day, this has to end."
Despite President Obama's executive order of January 22, 2009,
requiring humane standards of confinement at Guantanamo and conformity
with "all applicable laws governing the conditions of such
confinement," including the Geneva Conventions, attorneys assert that
detainees at Guantanamo have continued to suffer from solitary
confinement, psychological abuse, abusive force-feeding of hunger
strikers, religious abuse, and physical abuse and threats of violence
from guards and Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) teams.
The majority of the men being detained are in isolation. They go weeks
without seeing the sun. Fluorescent lights, however, remain on 24 hours
a day in Camp 5. According to the report, "improvements" cited by the
military are, by and large, public relations activities rather than
meaningful improvements in detainees' conditions.
In a declaration made February 13, 2009, Col. Bruce Vargo, commander of
the Joint Detention Group at Guantanamo, stated that, "There are no
solitary confinement detention areas at JTF-GTMO...Detainees typically
are able to communicate with other detainees either face-to-face or by
spoken word from their cells throughout the day." By this, say
attorneys, he means that the men can yell through the metal food slot
in the solid steel doors of their cells when it is left open and
through the crack between the door and the floor.
The report details multiple cases of abuse occurring in the last month
and a half. For example, "On the afternoon of January 7, 2009, Yasin
Ismael was in one of the outdoor cages of Camp 6 for "recreation" time.
The cage was entirely in the shade. Mr. Ismael asked to be moved to
the adjoining empty cage because it had sunlight entering from the top.
The guards, who were outside the cages, refused. One guard told Mr.
Ismael that he was "not allowed to see the sun." Angered, Mr. Ismael
threw a shoe against the inner mesh side of the cage; which bounced
harmlessly back onto the cage floor. The guards, however, accused Mr.
Ismael of attacking them and left him in the cage as punishment. He
eventually fell asleep on the floor of the cage, but hours later he was
awakened by the sound of an IRF team entering the cage in the dark. The
team shackled him, and he put up no resistance. They then beat him.
They blocked his nose and mouth until he felt that he would suffocate,
and hit him repeatedly in the ribs and head. They then took him back to
his cell. As he was being taken back, a guard urinated on his head. Mr.
Ismael was badly injured and his ear started to bleed, leaving a large
stain on his pillow. The attack on Mr. Ismael was confirmed by at least
one other detainee."
One detainee in Camp 6 wrote to his attorney in January 2009, "As I
told you, we are in very bad condition, suffering from aggression,
beating and IRF teams, as well as the inability to sleep except for a
few hours. Soldiers here are on a high alert state and if one of us
dares to leave his cell and comes back without any harm, he is
considered as a man who survived an inevitable danger.
Hunger strikes continue among a large number of men at Guantanamo.
Hunger strikers are brutally force-fed using a restraint chair and
often unsanitary feeding tubes, and are beaten for refusing food, a
practice that continued within the last month and a half. Force-feeding
hunger strikers is considered by the World Medical Association to be a
violation of medical ethics and has continued unabated since President
Obama's Executive Order.
Detainees are still denied access to communal prayer: military
officials continue to classify hearing a call to prayer through a food
slot as communal prayer, which does not comport with the requirements
of Islam. There has been no Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo since 2003,
despite repeated requests. In addition, the report found that then men
are also subject to body search procedures that require the men to
subject themselves to a scanner that visually strips the men naked each
time they leave their cells for attorney meetings or recreation. This
humiliating and degrading experience, particularly given the men's
strong religious background, has led them to stay in their cells all
day, refusing attorney meetings and recreation entirely.
The Center for Constitutional Rights issued a series of recommendations
to ensure the conditions at Guantanamo satisfy legal standards for the
humane treatment of the detainees during the interim period while its
closure is being implemented. They are, in brief,
- Close Camps 5, 6 and Echo immediately, end solitary
confinement, and move the men there to facilities with lawful and
humane conditions of confinement. - End religious abuse of
detainees, including the violations of detainees' right to practice
their religion freely and the use of routine strip scanning and strip
searching. - Cease the use of IRF teams and all other
physical abuse of detainees immediately, including ending temperature
manipulation and sleep deprivation. - End the feeding of individuals against their will or under coercive circumstances.
- Allow
detainees immediate access to independent medical and psychological
professionals and cease the practice of forcible medication of
detainees.
"If President Obama is going to uphold the law and enforce his own
Executive Order, he must close Camps 5, 6, and Echo and improve
conditions immediately," said CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren.
"He should quickly remedy and end the Guantanamo created by his
predecessor, not embrace a whitewash of it. I hope Attorney General
Eric Holder has a freer hand to report the true conditions at the base
from his visit there today than did Adm. Walsh, whose boss has overseen
Guantanamo for the last two years."
To read the full report, click here.
CCR has led the legal battle over Guantanamo for the last six years
- sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and sending the
first attorney to meet with a former CIA "ghost detainee" there. CCR
has been responsible for organizing and coordinating more than 500 pro
bono lawyers across the country in order to represent the men at
Guantanamo, ensuring that nearly all have the option of legal
representation. In addition, CCR has been working to resettle the
approximately 60 men who remain at Guantanamo because they cannot
return to their country of origin for fear of persecution and torture.
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. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
'Tragic Outcome' for Gig Workers as California Supreme Court Hands Win to Uber, DoorDash
"Today's ruling only strengthens our demand for the right to join together in a union so that we can begin improving the gig economy for workers and our customers," the case plaintiff said.
Jul 25, 2024
Labor advocates on Thursday decried a ruling by the California Supreme Court upholding a lower court's affirmation of a state ballot measure allowing app-based ride and delivery companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors, limiting their worker rights.
The court's seven justices ruled unanimously in Castellanos v. State of California that Proposition 22, which was approved by 58% of California voters in 2020, complies with the state constitution. Prop 22—which was overturned in 2021 by an Alameda County Superior Court judge in 2021—was upheld in March 2023 by the state's 1st District Court of Appeals.
The business models of app-based companies including DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, and Uber rely upon minimizing frontline worker compensation by categorizing drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors are not entitled to unemployment insurance, health insurance, or compensation for business expenses.
There are approximately 1.4 million app-based gig workers in California, according to industry estimates.
While DoorDash hailed Thursday's ruling as "not only a victory for Dashers, but also for democracy itself," gig worker advocates condemned the decision.
"Over the last three years, gig workers across California have experienced firsthand that Prop 22 is nothing more than a bait-and-switch meant to enrich global corporations at the expense of the Black, brown, and immigrant workers who power their earnings," plaintiff Hector Castellanos, who drives for Uber and Lyft, said in a statement.
"Prop 22 has allowed gig companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash to deprive us of a living wage, access to workers compensation, paid sick leave, and meaningful healthcare coverage," Castellanos added. "Today's ruling only strengthens our demand for the right to join together in a union so that we can begin improving the gig economy for workers and our customers."
Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, said that "we are deeply disappointed that the state Supreme Court has allowed tech corporations to buy their way out of basic labor laws despite Proposition 22's inconsistencies with our state constitution."
"These companies have upended our social contract, forcing workers and the public to take on the inherent risk created by this work, while they profit," she continued. "A.B. 5 granted virtually all California workers the right to be paid for all hours worked, health and safety standards, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and the right to organize."
"Rideshare and delivery drivers deserve those rights as well," Gonzalez stressed.
The Gig Workers Rising campaign said on social media that "Uber and other app corporations spent $220 million to buy this law, and they did it by tricking Californians."
Prop 22's passage in November 2020 with nearly 59% of the vote was the culmination of what was by far the most expensive ballot measure in California history. App-based companies and their backers outspent labor and progressive groups by more than 10 to 1, with proponents pouring a staggering $204.5 million into the "yes" campaign's coffers against just $19 million for the "no" side.
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"If Uber really cared about good benefits and fair wages, it could make that happen tomorrow," the campaign added. "Instead, it has shown it would rather slash pay, bamboozle voters, and put drivers' lives and livelihoods in danger—all while promising $7 billion in stock buybacks to banks and billionaires."
Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who focuses on labor and inequality, toldCalMatters that Thursday's ruling was "a really tragic outcome," but "it's not the end of the road."
Dubal's sentiment was echoed by some California state legislators, who said the ruling presents an opportunity to act.
"While this decision is frustrating, it must also be motivating," said state Senate Labor Committee Chair Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-28). "I'm more determined than ever to ensure that all workers—including our diverse and Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led gig workforce—have the basic protections of workers compensation, paid sick leave, family leave, disability insurance, and the right to form a union."
Prop 22 has served as a template for lawmakers in other states seeking to deny or limit basic worker rights, benefits, and protections.
In Massachusetts, app-based companies have been fighting for years to get a measure to classify drivers as contractors on the state ballot. In 2022, Lyft made the largest political donation in state history—$14.4 million—to a coalition funding one such proposal.
Last month, Uber and Lyft reached an agreement with the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, a Democrat, to pay $175 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2020. As part of the deal, the companies also agreed to increase driver pay and provide paid sick leave, accident insurance, and some health benefits. The agreement does not address how app-based gig workers should be classified.
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Jul 25, 2024
Four youth-led groups on Thursday urged Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to "fight for our future" by pursuing a policy agenda the coalition unveiled in a March letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.
It's been less than a week since Biden left the race and endorsed Harris, who is expected to face former Republican Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), in the November election. Since then, she's racked up endorsements from Democratic members of Congress and progressive groups focused on issues including climate, labor, and reproductive rights.
March for Our Lives, which was launched after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, honored Harris with the group's first-ever endorsement on Wednesday, calling her "the right person to stand up for us and fight for the country we deserve."
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The gun violence prevention organization is part of the youth-led coalition behind the new letter, which also includes the climate-focused Sunrise Movement; Gen-Z for Change, which advocates on a range of issues; and the national immigrant network United We Dream Action.
"You have an urgent and important task. To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters," the coalition told Harris on Thursday, noting that she sought the Democratic nomination during the last cycle. "You should build on your 2020 campaign platform where you put forward a strong vision to make the economy work for everyday people and ensure a livable future for us all."
The groups urged Harris to support the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. They pushed her to expand pathways to citizenship, keep families together, end fossil fuel subsidies, and create good, union jobs. They also called on her to prioritize gun violence prevention and investments in public health solutions and green, affordable housing.
"Democrats are at a critical crossroads with young people," the coalition wrote to Harris on Thursday. "Polls showed Biden and Trump neck-and-neck among young voters."
ANew York Times/Siena College poll conducted July 22-24 shows Trump leading Harris 48% to 47% among likely voters and 48% to 46% among registered voters—differences that fall within the margin of error.
Forbesnoted Thursday that "Democrats are far more enthusiastic about Harris than they were Biden, the Times/Siena survey found, with nearly 80% of voters who lean Democrat saying they would like Harris to be the nominee, compared to 48% of Democrats who said the same about Biden three weeks ago."
The outlet also pointed to two other polls conducted by Morning Consult and Reuters/Ipsos since Biden dropped out, which both show Harris with a narrow lead over Trump.
"You have an opportunity to win the youth vote by turning the page and differentiating yourself from Biden policies that are deeply unpopular with us, such as approving new oil and gas projects, denying people their right to seek refuge and asylum, and funding the Israeli government's killing of civilians in Gaza," the youth coalition highlighted Thursday. "You must speak to the economic pain young people are facing from crushing student debt and skyrocketing housing and food prices."
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"The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually," said one union leader. "The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games."
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After nearly two years of negotiations with video game giants and no deal that would protect performers from artificial intelligence, unionized voice and motion capture actors who work in video game development announced Thursday that they will go on strike starting at 12:01 am on Friday, July 26.
The performers are represented by Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which last year won a contract for TV and film actors that included "unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI," after the union went on strike for four months.
The union has been negotiating on behalf of video game actors with major production companies including Disney Character Voices Inc., Activision Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc., and has won concessions over wages and job safety—but "AI protections remain the sticking point," said SAG-AFTRA on Thursday as the impending strike was announced.
Unionized actors want protections that would stop video game companies from training AI to replicate actors' voices or likeness without their consent and without compensating them.
"The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually," said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA. "The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games. That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies."
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