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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release

CCR Response to President Obama's Signing of New Military Commissions Legislation

NEW YORK

The following quote can be attributed to Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director Vincent Warren in response to President Obama's signing of new Military Commissions legislation today:

"These are now President Obama's military commissions: he owns them and
all of the problems that come with them, and their inevitable failure
will scar his legacy and embolden our critics in the world. Military
commissions are an unnecessary, jury-rigged creation, second-rate in
comparison to our legal system. Obama is tinkering with the
Constitution for no good reason."

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) 614-6464