Jan 22nd, 2009
Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 2:13pm	National Security

President Obama Orders Closure of Gitmo, Bans Torture

From our release today, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said:

These executive orders represent a giant step forward. Putting an end to Guantanamo, torture and secret prisons is a civil liberties trifecta, and President Obama should be highly commended for this bold and decisive action so early in his administration on an issue so critical to restoring an America we can be proud of again.

There are, however, ambiguities in the orders regarding treatment of certain detainees that could either be the result of the swiftness with which these orders were issued or ambivalence within the Obama administration. We are hopeful that as the process unfolds and gets clarified, there will be no doubt that detainees must either be charged, prosecuted and convicted or they need to be released. That’s the American way; our legal system, while not always perfect, is the best in the world. Adherence to American legal principles requires unconditional action; there is no room for a middle-ground. It would be an enormous mistake for the Obama administration to allow for indefinite detention in any case, or to endeavor to create any system other than our centuries-old justice system for prosecuting detainees. If President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates hold on to any part of the Bush administration’s legal farce, they will soon end up in the very same legal morass that the prior president found himself in over the last eight years.

Join us in thanking President Obama for acting on Day One.

Permalink |	National Security

Tags: Close Guantanamo

1. Vic Livingston Says:
   Jan 22nd, 2009 at 5:14pm

   RHETORICALLY BANNING 'TORTURE' AND 'ENHANCED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES' WHILE LEAVING OPEN POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF ALTERNATE METHODS RECOMMENDED BY A MILITARY/INTEL COMMISSION MEANS THE DEBATE IS NOT YET WON.

   The words sound good, but no reason yet for celebration.

   Bush used very similar language -- "We don't torture" -- did he not?

   President Obama must BAN by executive order institutionalized, multi-agency policies of EXTRAJUDICIAL TARGETING AND PUNISHMENT...

   ... the authoritarian bypass of the constitution and the judicial system that has spawned abuses of power at home and abroad, on the federal and local levels...

   ...including domestic TORTURE via high-tech radiation weaponry widely deployed among the military, security/intelligence agencies, and law enforcement.

   While the media and ACLU express admirable concern about the treatment of 245 detainees, untold thousands of U.S. citizens are being tortured, abused and financially drained by multi-agency "policies of personal destruction."

   PLEASE READ THIS... and come to the aid of the victims of DOMESTIC TORTURE and extrajudicial targeting/punishment.

   The wholesale NSA spying on journalists -- revealed on MSNBC on Wednesday night by a former NSA analyst -- is but one program in a multi-agency operation designed to extrajudicially target and punish American citizens without benefit of due process of law.

   This journalist is one of them.

   My email and internet communications continue to be intercepted, censored, maliciously tampered with and altered, and my posts to political sites blocked by sophisticated remote computing/hacking software, including the insertion of fake, "spoofed pages" on my data stream.

   A simple glance at the browser task bar reveals account mirroring, function disablement, and wholesale hijacking of a "targeted" user's internet account.

   ONLY A LAWSUIT WILL END THESE ABUSES.

   WE NEED ACLU TO IMMEDIATELY FILE A CLASS ACTION SUIT ON BEHALF OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS WHO CONTINUE TO BE VICTIMIZED.

   Please, civil liberties attorneys: Read this and related articles on internet surveillance and censorship:

   http://www.nowpublic.com/world/plea-obama-ban-extra judicial-policies-behind-torture

   OR (if link is disabled):

   http://My.NowPublic.com/scrivener