January, 11 2022, 09:23am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper
Phone: 202-744-7726
E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com
CAIR Marks 20th Anniversary of Guantanamo by Calling on President, Congress to Shut Down 'Forever Prison'
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today marked the 20th anniversary of the George W. Bush administration opening the unconstitutional U.S. military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by once again calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to end indefinite detention and to close this illegal facility.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
WASHINGTON
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today marked the 20th anniversary of the George W. Bush administration opening the unconstitutional U.S. military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by once again calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to end indefinite detention and to close this illegal facility.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
"For twenty years, our government has illegally operated a military detention camp that has indefinitely detained prisoners without charge or trial at Guantanamo, Cuba.
"The Guantanamo prison camp was designed to detain and try foreign terrorism suspects outside of the reach of the Constitution to deny detainees their due process rights or the expectation of a fair trial.
"While 780 individuals have been detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison over the past 20 years, only 0.3% have been convicted, and the vast majority have been released.
"With 39 men remaining at Guantanamo, our government has a responsibility to either fairly charge and try these men within the U.S. judicial system or to release them.
"Guantanamo remains a stain on the United States human rights record that must be addressed by the Biden administration and no longer ignored by Congress.
"CAIR calls on President Biden and Congress to end indefinite detention at Guantanamo and close this forever prison once and for all."
For more information on the unconstitutional military camp at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, CAIR recommends visiting Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative website: GUANTANAMO BAY MILITARY PRISON: NARRATIVES AND NUMBERS.
Last July, CAIR welcomed the release of a Guantanamo detainee Abdul Latif Nasser, who was imprisoned at the facility for 19 years without a charge.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
(202) 488-8787LATEST NEWS
Summer Lee Calls Out Primary Opponent for Taking Right-Wing Money
"Her entire campaign is backed by Republicans, yet she says that I'm not a good enough Democrat," Lee said of Bhavini Patel during a debate Thursday night.
Apr 05, 2024
In a debate on Thursday night, "Squad" member and progressive Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee called out her Democratic primary opponent Bhavini Patel for taking money from Republican megadonors, including Jeffrey Yass.
Her remarks came the day after news broke that Yass had given more money to a super PAC supporting Patel Patel, after initially donating to the group in 2022 in support of conservative Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine). Also on Thursday, 250 constituents from Pennsylvania's 12th District wrote to Patel urging her to disavow Yass and other Republican donors.
"Her entire campaign is backed by Republicans, yet she says that I'm not a good enough Democrat," Lee said on the debate stage.
"It feels like she is implying that there is enough room for Joe Manchin, but not a Black woman fighting for her own community," Lee continued.
"No candidate running in the Democratic primary should be primarily funded by Republican donors working to elect Trump."
During her remarks, Lee said Patel was "outwardly calling for people who are Republicans to vote for her."
"She is now backed by Jeffrey Yass, who is the richest man in Pennsylvania, who has spent all of his money eroding public education," Lee added. "He has eroded abortion rights, and right now he is on the shortlist to be Treasury secretary for Donald Trump."
News of the relationship between Yass and Patel first emerged last month, when the so-called Moderate PAC ran an ad backing the Edgewood, Pennsylvania, councilmember. Moderate PAC's only donor for all of 2022 was Susquehanna International Group, a trading firm that Yass co-founded.
Then, on Wednesday, Moderate PAC's president Ty Strong told Politico that Yass had donated additional funds in recent weeks after Strong spoke to him about the primary campaign against Lee.
"I went to Jeff Yass and made a proposal," Strong told Politico. "He knew nothing about Summer… He's a really wealthy guy, so he made a donation in line with his wealth. But there's other Pittsburgh people that are now seeing this and doing the same thing. And so it's not Jeff Yass, it's me and Pittsburgh who realized that this far-left member shouldn't be representing a D-plus-eight district."
Yet several district members are concerned that Yass is not the only Republican seeking to influence a Democratic primary. In their letter, the 250 constituents noted that Patel's only Federal Election Commission filing to date shows that more than 60% of her primary donors had also given over $100 million to MAGA Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Nikki Haley, and election deniers like Republican Reps. Scott Perry and Mike Kelly, both of Pennsylvania.
"Your Republican donors are part of the plan to pass a national abortion ban; attack our LGBTQ+ siblings; bankroll Big Pharma and the NRA; tear away our access to healthcare, workers' rights, voting rights; and ultimately end democracy in America," the letter reads. "They are actively undermining our democracy, promoting discrimination and hate, and endangering the lives and well-being of our communities."
The District 12 voters also pointed to reporting by The Intercept that Patel told potential donors at a fundraiser that her campaign would encourage Republicans and independents to register as Democrats to vote against Lee.
The constituents said they were writing to Patel to "express grave concern" about appeals to Republican donors and voters.
"This is a craven and undemocratic ploy to unseat Congresswoman Summer Lee," they said. "The involvement of Republican donors in your campaign is deceitful and deeply hypocritical. It undermines any hope of earning the trust of Democratic voters and the communities you claim to be running to serve. Accepting financial support from those who actively work against our values is unacceptable and incompatible with the responsibilities of a Democratic representative. We deserve better."
Lee also faces the threat of right-wing money being laundered through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has promised to spend $100 million to unseat Lee and other Squad members. Lee has been outspoken against Israel's genocide in Gaza and co-sponsored legislation calling for a cease-fire as early as mid-October. However, AIPAC also spent more than $2 million to unseat Lee in the 2022 election through its United Democracy Project (UDP) super PAC.
In response to Lee's debate performance, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner applauded her for "exposing the AIPAC grift for what it is: GOP-funded candidates who encourage Republicans to vote is blue seat primaries against progressives who dare to stand up for their communities."
While Yass had donated more money than anyone else to outside spending groups during the 2024 U.S. campaign season—shelling out more than $46 million to right-leaning groups—he has not given money to either AIPAC or UDP, Haaretz reported in March.
However, the 250 District 12 constituents said that Patel had sought the endorsement of UDP.
"No candidate running in the Democratic primary should be primarily funded by Republican donors working to elect Trump," the group wrote.
The constituents called on Patel to "take immediate and transparent action, pledging not to encourage Republicans and independents to re-register in our primaries and publicly demand that a Republican-funded Super PAC like AIPAC not spend money in our Democratic primary."
"The integrity of our democratic process and the voters' trust in PA-12 are at stake," they concluded.
Keep ReadingShow Less
US Court Orders Transfer of Migrant Children From 'Proundly Inhumane' Open-Air Sites
"But it remains a tragedy that a court had to direct the government to do what basic human decency and the law clearly require," said one advocate.
Apr 05, 2024
Migrant rights defenders on Thursday cheered a federal court ruling ordering U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop holding undocumented minors in squalid open-air detention sites in Southern California and to transfer all children held in such locations to "safe and sanitary" spaces.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) contended that people held in the open-air detention sites (OADS) are not yet in U.S. custody. However, Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles issued a 12-page ruling that found migrant children are entitled to protection under the Flores Settlement Agreement, which
established national minimum standards for the treatment of detained minors.
"There are minimum standards that must be followed if CBP will be detaining families, children, and other people."
Gee found that CBP violated the 1997 agreement by detaining children in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, failing to properly feed them, and taking too long to process them at seven sites near San Diego and Jacumba Hot Springs. Migrants detained in these OADS have waited as long as five days before being transfered to indoor lockups.
"The court's decision to recognize CBP's custody of children in open-air detention sites is a crucial step towards ensuring accountability and protection for vulnerable migrants," said Lilian Serrano, director of Southern Border Communities Coalition, a case plaintiff.
"There are minimum standards that must be followed if CBP will be detaining families, children, and other people," Serrano added. "We are pleased to see the federal court acknowledge this fundamental truth. Now we expect the agency to comply with the court's order immediately."
As the number of migrants entering the United States without authorization has surged during President Joe Biden's tenure, U.S. border authorities have forced migrants—including people legally seeking asylum—into OADS, where they face what case plaintiff National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) called "profoundly inhumane conditions."
NCYL said migrant children are "forced to take shelter from harsh rain and wind in porta-potties, burn toxic brush and garbage to stay warm, and survive on nothing more than a granola bar and a bottle of water each day."
Neha Desai, NCYL's senior director of immigration, called Gee's ruling "a tremendous victory for children at open-air detention sites."
"But it remains a tragedy that a court had to direct the government to do what basic human decency and the law clearly require," Desai added. "We expect CBP to comply with the court's order swiftly, and we remain committed to holding CBP accountable for meeting the most rudimentary needs of children in their legal custody, including food, shelter, and basic medical care."
A 2023 report on conditions at the Jacumba Hot Springs site published by the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California San Diego found that all of the migrants held at the site said border agents did not give them enough food and over half said they did not get enough water for the day. All migrants interviewed also said they were deprived of adequate sanitation like toilets and proper shelter and shade structures.
Another report published last year revealed a "shocking pattern" of abuse of migrants and some American citizens perpetrated by Department of Homeland Security personnel at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
Keep ReadingShow Less
After 'One Phone Call' With Biden, Israel Opens Erez Crossing to Increase Gaza Aid
"Imagine how many lives could have been saved if this leverage had been used earlier, as so many urged."
Apr 05, 2024
The news late Thursday that Israeli officials had approved the reopening of the Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid to reach starving Palestinians was greeted with cautious optimism by rights groups, as critics of U.S. President Joe Biden's Israel policy noted that the approval was granted shortly after Biden issued a warning to the Israeli government.
Biden reportedly threatened to condition future military support for Israel in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, marking the first time the president has used his leverage as the top international funder of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to influence Israel's actions in Gaza.
"Very good news coming just hours after Biden finally signaled a willingness to withhold aid," said Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy. "Imagine how many lives could have been saved if this leverage had been used earlier, as so many urged."
The Erez crossing was expected to receive humanitarian aid shipments starting Sunday, Israeli officials told CNN, with more aid entering Gaza through the Ashdod port the same day.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the news offers a "glimmer of hope" but said Israel must demonstrate that the change in policy will have a meaningful impact on the lives of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, including 300,000 Palestinians who are believed to be trapped in Gaza and subsisting on just 245 calories per day due to Israel's monthslong blockade on nearly all humanitarian aid.
"Israel and its allies must ensure that aid can now flow freely to avert a famine, and that there will be a protection system for humanitarian workers that guarantees our security," said Egeland. "Most of all we need protection for Palestinian civilians, who have been indiscriminately killed during these last six months."
Biden's call to Netanyahu came days after Israel killed seven aid workers, including one American citizen, who were delivering relief with World Central Kitchen (WCK). The strike on the clearly-marked WCK convoy prompted ships carrying 240 tons of aid to turn back from Gaza.
The attack has prompted some of Biden's closest allies, including Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) to add their voices to calls that have consistently been made by international human rights experts, the United Nations, and progressive lawmakers for the U.S. to apply conditions to military aid for Israel in accordance with U.S. law.
Despite Biden's warning, he has also been pushing Congress this week to approve an $18 billion military aid shipment to Israel.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said the news of the Erez crossing reopening was "positive news but, of course, we will have to see how this is implemented."
"We need a humanitarian cease-fire and a massive influx of aid," said Dujarric.
Shortly after Israel made its announcement, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling on countries to stop sending weapons to Israel.
Twenty-eight of 47 member countries supported the resolution, which demanded Israel be held accountable for possible war crimes, while six opposed it. Thirteen countries abstained.
The U.S. was among the countries that opposed the resolution, despite Biden's threat to condition aid to Israel.
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, commended the countries that "voted to pass a resolution calling to halt arms transfers to Israel at this critical moment."
"Next step for all states is to enforce this as well as recent U.N. resolutions to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza," said Albanese. "This is in line with states' obligations under international law including ICJ [International Court of Justice] provisional measures."
The ICJ last week ordered Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, where more than 25 children are among dozens who have died of starvation so far.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular