One Year Anniversary of the Official "Blog of Rights"

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the ACLU's Official "Blog of Rights", this year, the ACLU are:

marking the one-year anniversary of the Blog of Rights by revisiting the issue of torture with a new forum, which we’re expanding to include not just bloggers, but experts in the field: psychologists who’ve worked with torture victims, former military personnel, authors, attorneys who represent former and current Guantanamo detainees, and others. We’ll discuss the origins of the torture program, who’s responsible for these crimes, and most of all, the need for accountability.
To kick off this month-long forum, we have an exclusive podcast (MP3) : Salon.com’s Glenn Greenwald, one of our original torture symposium contributors, interviews Philippe Sands, author of Torture Team: Rumsfeld’s Memo and the Betrayal of American Values (shameless plug: it’s newly available in paperback), and ACLU attorney Amrit Singh, co-counsel in the ACLU’s long-standing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. Thanks to that lawsuit, the public saw for the first time the infamous legal memos that authorized the use of torture on detainees in U.S. custody overseas.

We’re also launching our Accountability for Torture feature, a hub for everything you need to know about the issue, including a video about accountability, an infographic of the Bush administration players who authorized torture, an improved search function that allows the public to search thousands of documents we received through our FOIA request, and our prescription for accountability.

Court Rules In Favor Of Transparency In Guantánamo Cases

In an important ruling affecting the public's access to records regarding the cases of Guantánamo detainees, a federal court today denied a government motion to seal unclassified information related to those cases. Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, citing a "First Amendment and common law right to access" judicial records, ruled that the government cannot suppress unclassified documents and must seek court approval to seal specific information.

The following can be attributed to Jonathan Hafetz, attorney with the ACLU National Security Project:

"Today's decision is a victory for transparency. For far too long, the government has succeeded in keeping information about Guantánamo secret, and used secrecy to cover-up illegal detention and abuse. The decision marks an important step towards restoring America's open court tradition that is essential to both accountability and the rule of law."

President Obama to Give Speech on Guantanamo Military Commissions

From ACLU Blog of Rights:

Tomorrow morning at 10:10 a.m., President Obama will deliver a "major national security speech" from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. We’re expecting more details on his plans to revive the unfixable military commissions.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement last week:

These military commissions are inherently illegitimate, unconstitutional and incapable of delivering outcomes we can trust…

Despite the administration’s efforts to improve the system, the only explanation for reviving it would be to accommodate the damage that has already been done by the Bush administration’s policies of torture, illegal detention and denial of fair trials.

Attorney General Eric Holder's Statement on Ali Al-Marri

"A short while ago, in an Illinois courtroom, Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. By entering into this agreement, al-Marri admitted that he worked for and provided material support to al-Qaeda with the intent to further its terrorism objectives and activities here in the United States.
"Without a doubt, this case is a grim reminder of the seriousness of the threat we, as a nation, still face. But it also reflects what we can achieve when we have faith in our criminal justice system and are unwavering in our commitment to the values upon which this nation was founded and the rule of law.
"Just days after taking the oath of office, President Obama directed me to lead an interagency review of the al-Marri case. At the time, al-Marri had been sitting in a naval brig in South Carolina for more than five years facing no charges.
"As a result of that review and an examination of the evidence gathered during the extensive investigation of al-Marri by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors, we decided to charge al-Marri in federal court. In February, a federal grand jury in Illinois indicted al-Marri on two counts of providing and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda.
"That led us to where we are today - the resolution of this case that will send al-Marri to prison for up to 15 years.
"There are many milestones we achieve today, not the least of which are –
--The conviction of an al-Qaeda sleeper agent captured in the United States;
-- The certainty that our criminal justice system can and will hold terrorists accountable for their actions, and;
-- The triumph of the exhaustive efforts of dedicated professionals at the Justice Department and many other agencies involved in this case.

Ex-Bush Admin Official: Many at Gitmo are Innocent

Many detainees locked up at Guantanamo were innocent men swept up by U.S. forces unable to distinguish enemies from noncombatants, a former Bush administration official said Thursday.

"There are still innocent people there," Lawrence B. Wilkerson, a Republican who was chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, told The Associated Press. "Some have been there six or seven years."

Wilkerson, who first made the assertions in an Internet posting on Tuesday, told the AP he learned from briefings and by communicating with military commanders that the U.S. soon realized many Guantanamo detainees were innocent but nevertheless held them in hopes they could provide information for a "mosaic" of intelligence.

"It did not matter if a detainee were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of importance," Wilkerson wrote in the blog. He said intelligence analysts hoped to gather "sufficient information about a village, a region, or a group of individuals, that dots could be connected and terrorists or their plots could be identified."

Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel, said vetting on the battlefield during the early stages of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan was incompetent with no meaningful attempt to discriminate "who we were transporting to Cuba for detention and interrogation."

Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on Wilkerson's specific allegations but noted that the military has consistently said that dealing with foreign fighters from a wide variety of countries in a wartime setting was a complex process. The military has insisted that those held at Guantanamo were enemy combatants and posed a threat to the United States.

In his posting for The Washington Note blog, Wilkerson wrote that "U.S. leadership became aware of this lack of proper vetting very early on and, thus, of the reality that many of the detainees were innocent of any substantial wrongdoing, had little intelligence value, and should be immediately released."

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney fought efforts to address the situation, Wilkerson said, because "to have admitted this reality would have been a black mark on their leadership."

Full story here.

Should Jawad Be Free?

This video explains the habeas corpus case of Mohammed Jawad, a teenager when first captured, detained by the United States government for the past six years in Guantanamo. Credit must be given to the United States Army Prosecutor, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, who resigned rather than continue to participate in the trial. He has written a declaration in support of Mr. Jawad's habeas petition urging that Mr. Jawad be released.

Rachel Maddow Interviews ACLU's Jameel Jaffer on Guantanamo-Congratulates President Obama But Cautions Work Still To Be Done

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Guantanamo Closed In One Year-Population Already Moving

From ACLU

WASHINGTON – The new Obama administration circulated a draft executive order Wednesday calling for the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp within a year and halting all military commission trials in the meantime.

The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:

"This is the first ray of sunlight in what has been eight long years of darkness, of trampling on America's treasured values of justice and due process. The order is remarkable in its timing and its clear intent to close down Guantánamo and unequivocally halt the Bush administration's shameful military commissions. While the order leaves some question as to how some detainees will be released or prosecuted, we trust that's not President Obama's intent and hope that any ambiguity is due to the fact that this order was done on day one in record time. We are confident that President Obama understands that indefinite detention without trial must end once and for all and that detainees should be either prosecuted in a federal court or, if there is no evidence against them, released or transferred to countries where they will not be tortured. Our centuries-old justice system is well-equipped to handle these cases, and it's a great relief to finally have a president who is committed to upholding American values and the rule of law. Although we have a long road ahead to get to an America we can be proud of again, change has begun."

The ACLU, through its John Adams Project with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, has sponsored civilian attorneys who have been assisting the under-resourced military defense counsel at Guantánamo.

A copy of the draft executive order can be found online at:

More information about the ACLU's work to close Guantánamo can be found online

Guantanamo Update

On NPR this evening "All Things Considered" contained an interesting audio segment, "Trying Guantanamo Detainees Might be a Problem".

President-Elect Barack Obama has made it clear that closing Guantanamo will be one of his first executive order. But the question remains, what happens next and what to do with the more than 250 detainees? NPR has some thorough coverage here.

Remembering Yesterday Looking Towards Tomorrow

This coming week marks the seven year anniversary of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Amnesty International and ACLU groups are holding a candlelight vigil on January 13, 2009 to remember what rights we have lost, and to look towards how we can start to undo the damage with the new year (and new administration).

For more information, click here.

Speaking of Human Rights-Video

As we close International Human Rights Day, this video is a five minute tutorial on everything wrong with Guantanamo.

After a long week (and its only Wednesday) Gitmo Update

Anthony Romero, ACLU's executive director, reported today from Gitmo. His post, reposted here, is worth a read at the close of International Human Rights Day. Mr. Romero's insider view of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay is a reminder that we still have a ways to go.

Posted by Anthony D. Romero, ACLU at 6:04 pm
Close Guantanamo, Torture & Abuse
An Insider’s View of Gitmo This Week

I just stepped off an airplane from Gitmo last night and thought it would be a good time to offer an insider’s take on what really happened down there this week. Unlike the many stories that have been in the press, what follows is a view from the defense table that provides a fuller perspective on the proceedings than what’s been reported.

As you might know, the ACLU has, along with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), created the John Adams Project, through which we have sponsored expert civilian counsel to team up with the military defense lawyers representing the 9/11 defendants. It’s part of our ongoing struggle to bring a modicum of fairness to these sham prosecutions and to get Guantánamo shut down for once and for all.

As I write this today our struggle to shut Gitmo and shutter the military commissions is far from over and is anything but a fait accompli.

You probably read in the papers that on Monday, all five defendants expressed an interest in entering guilty pleas in the 9/11 case.This wasn’t unexpected news to anyone, as they essentially expressed that viewpoint from the very first hearing in June of this year.

What did change was that the defendants have been meeting as a group since the last hearing. They have recently asked to have all pending law and evidentiary motions withdrawn and that they be allowed to proceed to enter guilty pleas and be sentenced to death. All five men submitted a handwritten motion to the military judge on November 4, 2008 (Election Day) stating that this is how they would like to proceed.

However, like so much in this made-up system, the process for how this might happen is not clear.

First, the defendants have to formally enter guilty pleas, which they did not do for reasons I will explain below.

Second, the military judge has to accept the pleas, but only after an extensive round of questioning and a review of the evidence that supports the entry of those pleas. In normal courts, this process is known as “allocution” and even in these fundamentally flawed commissions, it is hard to imagine any judge accepting guilty pleas in capital cases without undertaking this second stage with rigor and care.

Third, a panel of 12 jurors (most likely military officers) would have to be convened, and they would have to render a unanimous decision in order for the death sentence to be applied.

None of this happened this week. Why?

First, two of the five defendants do not represent themselves.They were not allowed to represent themselves, as there were questions about their intentions and their competency to knowingly and voluntarily waive their right to counsel. One of them, Ramzi bin al Shibh, had been placed on psychiatric medication against his will. The issue of competency is also being raised in the case of Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi. These two defendants are still represented by JAG lawyers and by civilian counsel from the John Adams Project. In fact, Jeff Robinson from our John Adams Project did an outstanding cross-examination of Brig. General Thomas Hartmann on the unlawful command influence motion that did not garner any press attention. Legal and evidentiary motions on behalf of bin al Shibh and al Hawsawi have NOT been withdrawn and we expect continued back and forth with the government until issues of their competence have been resolved. Only then could Judge Henley allow them to represent themselves and move to the next stage of entering pleas.

Second, three of the five defendants who do represent themselves (although we are still stand-by counsel for all three) changed their mind from the morning to the afternoon on Monday as to whether they wished to formally enter guilty pleas this week. Ironically, there is a conflict between the rules and the discussion section of the Military Commissions Act that leaves it unclear as to whether the death penalty could attach in an instance where guilty pleas are entered. In other words, if they plead guilty it is not clear they could be executed (”martyred” in their minds). When Mr. Mohammed learned this at lunch, he did a turn-around and said that he was not willing to enter pleas that day until he gained clarity from Judge Henley on this issue.

Third, after the defendants understood that if the pro se defendants proceeded separately without resolution of the other two who are still represented by counsel, the five cases would not continue to proceed together. The idea that moving ahead on Monday on three pleas would essentially leave their other two “brothers” (as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed put it) behind made them reconsider their decision, much to the consternation of the prosecutor and the military judge.

While these events have the potential to impact the nature of the John Adams Project’s involvement, we are not giving up. As I explained, two of the five defendants are still directly represented by the JAG and John Adams lawyers. Although Khalid Sheikh Mohammed did fire his JAG lawyer, Captain Prescott Prince, by the afternoon he had welcomed ACLU lawyer David Nevin back to the counsel’s table, was conferring with him, and was receiving input from him in open court. As in many capital cases, lawyers often encounter an on-again/off-again dynamic with clients — even more so with those who have been tortured and waterboarded.

This is far from over. Guilty pleas have not been entered or accepted, and sentencing is a ways off. What we have done by providing expert civilian defense counsel is ensure that the worst case scenario (entering of pleas, acceptance of pleas, and sentencing in a system void of due process) did not happen in the remaining days of the Bush administration. Without the ACLU and NACDL’s involvement, I can immodestly speculate that those events almost certainly would have happened this week.

What happens next?Well, who can ever say about Gitmo? The judge has set up a briefing schedule on the above issues that requires the last response motion from us on January 4, 2009. It seems like a long-shot that he would set up a hearing to hear the pleas, accept them and sentence the defendants before Inauguration Day, but no one can say with certainty. What is most likely is that this is all dropped in the lap of a new administration. Putting the pressure on the Obama administration to shut down Gitmo and the military commissions right away as he promised is our top priority, since the further this process goes, the harder it may be to stop it entirely. Monday’s Washington Post piece does a good job of exploring this conundrum for the Obama team. Notice the “no comment” from the transition team.

Finally, what was most difficult for all of us at Guantánamo was hearing the 9/11 family members who were down there say that they were proud of America and the way in which the defendants were being afforded justice.They are earnest, well-intentioned people who suffered a great loss, and I can only imagine the mix of emotions that they were feeling as they were sitting in the courtroom alongside of us.But the fact is that their grievous loss and hope for justice does not fix the fact that this commission process is NOT the best example of American justice, as it is a system that allows hearsay, coerced confessions and evidence gleaned from torture and waterboarding.

There are other 9/11 family members who share our views, 24 of whom issued a statement to that effect today, and some whose individual statements are on our website. Nothing changes the basic fact that this system changed the rules of tried-and-true systems of justice (whether civilian or military), and while the military commissions may look, smell and feel like a real court of law, they are not. No court of law would allow individuals who were tortured with the express approval of top government officials to be put to death when their mental health status is still in question.

That’s why we’re sticking with this case, and that’s why we ask for your support.

Judge Orders Release of Five Guantanamo Detainees

From ACLU Blog

On November 20th, a federal judge ordered the release of the five Algerian detainees who have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years without charges. The judge also ruled that the government may continue to hold another one of the Algerians indefinitely.

For more on Guantánamo Bay Prison and why it should be closed, check out www.closegitmo.com

Secret Gitmo Camp Opened to Defense Lawyers

From ABC News:

The prosecutors, without providing details about the camp, deny Binalshibh's allegations and say he is not subjected to "prolonged" isolation.

"He has available to him outdoor recreation, socialization with a recreation partner, the ability to exercise, access to library books twice a week, the privilege of watching movies and may meet with his attorneys upon request should he so choose," prosecutors wrote in a motion opposing the defense request to see his conditions.

Binalshibh and four other Guantanamo detainees have been charged in the attacks that killed 2,973 people, the bloodiest terrorist strikes ever on U.S. soil. The charges carry a possible death sentence.

Full story here.

ACLU Praises Obama's Plan To Close Guantánamo

The American Civil Liberties Union strongly praises President-elect Barack Obama's promise on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday night to close down Guantánamo and its unconstitutional military commissions being used to prosecute detainees.

"After eight years of a Bush administration that thumbed its nose at the Constitution and the rule of law, it is incredibly gratifying that President-elect Obama plans to put an end to the Guantánamo prison camp and its sham military commission system which have been a stain on America's name at home and abroad. We strongly urge him to take such action on Day One with the stroke of a pen, by executive order," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "The Bush military commissions that violate core constitutional principles and rely on hearsay, secret evidence and evidence obtained through torture have no place in our democracy. Federal civilian or military courts are perfectly capable of handling terrorism prosecutions and accommodating sensitive national security concerns, as has been demonstrated time and time again."

Full story here.

Close Gitmo Campaign

The ACLU has announced its Close Gitmo campaign, quoting President-Elect Obama's promise to "close Guantánamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions.” Amen!
The ACLU and Brave New Foundation are collaborating on videos containing direct testimony from those with firsthand knowledge of the system of injustice that thrives at Gitmo. This is one in the series.

Federal Court Allows Bush Administration To Withhold Records Detailing Torture And Abuse Of Guantánamo Prisoners

A federal judge today allowed the Bush administration to withhold unredacted transcripts in which 14 prisoners now held at Guantánamo Bay describe abuse and torture they endured in CIA custody. The decision comes in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed in March to enforce a Freedom of Information Act request for records from Combatant Status Review Tribunals that determine if prisoners held by the Defense Department at Guantánamo qualify as "enemy combatants."

Full article can be found here.

Guantánamo Judge Rejects Evidence Obtained Through Torture In Jawad Case

From the ACLU:

A military judge ruled today that the government cannot use statements made as a result of torture in the military commission case against Afghan national Mohammed Jawad. The judge held that Jawad's alleged confession to throwing a grenade at two U.S. service members and an Afghan interpreter was obtained after armed Afghan officials threatened to kill Jawad and his family. The government had previously told the judge that Jawad's alleged confession while in Afghan custody was central to the case against him.

Full article here.

Attorney Hina Shamsi Addresses Guantanamo

ACLU National Security Project Attorney and frequent Guantánamo Military Tribunal observer Hina Shamsi was featured in a live chat on Firedoglake in which she fielded questions about Guantánamo and the military commissions trials. It is a good overview on the ethical and legal problems that have plagued the proceedings in Guantanamo. An excerpt from the chat:

In a dramatic development in the commissions case against Mohammad Jawad, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, the lead prosecutor, resigned because he said he does not believe he can ethically proceed with the case.

Vandeveld testified that he turned from a “true believer” to “truly deceived” when he realized that possibly exculpatory information and other records were not being provided to defense lawyers as required — and simply could not be — because the process for gathering, maintaining and transferring records was in "utter disarray." According to Vandeveld, the systemic flaws "deprive the accused of basic due process and subject the well-intentioned prosecutor to claims of ethical misconduct."

It is worth a read.

Documents Say Detainee Near Insanity

A U.S. military officer warned Pentagon officials that an American detainee was being driven nearly insane by months of punishing isolation and sensory deprivation in a U.S. military brig, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

While the treatment of prisoners at detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan and Iraq have long been the subject of human rights complaints and court scrutiny, the documents shed new light on how two American citizens and a legal U.S. resident were treated in military jails inside the United States.

The Bush administration ordered the men to be held in military jails as ''enemy combatants'' for years of interrogations without criminal charges, which would not have been allowed in civilian jails.

The men were interrogated by the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, repeatedly denied access to attorneys and mail from home and contact with anyone other than guards and their interrogators. They were deprived of natural light for months and for years were forbidden even minor distractions such as a soccer ball or a dictionary.

Full story here.