American Civil Liberties Union

Today, a group of musicians, including REM, Pearl Jam and The Roots filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out whether their music was played at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay.  The request for information stems from former Guantánamo detainees’ testimony and released government documents that document that music has been used as part of interrogations.

Yesterday, the ACLU's Denny LeBoeuf was in Guantánamo to observe the restart of the military commission hearings. But the hearings were brought to another halt almost as soon as they began: the military judge granted the government's motion to stay all proceedings in the case against the five alleged 9/11 conspirators until the Obama administration decides whether it will transfer the cases to federal court. The administration’s deadline to make this decision is November 16.

After nearly seven years in U.S. custody, Mohammed Jawad was released and flown home to Afghanistan over the weekend. One of his defense attorneys, Marine Maj. Eric Montalvo, accompanied Jawad as a private citizen on this trip home.

The ACLU represented Jawad in his habeas corpus case in federal court, which challenged his illegal detention and prosecution before the military commissions at Guantánamo. Of the 200-plus Gitmo detainees who still remain, two facts stood out with Jawad's case. First, his age: he was a teenager, possibly as young as 12, when he was captured. And second, Jawad's former lead military prosecutor, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, left the military commission in September 2008 because he did not believe he could ethically proceed with Jawad's case.

Yesterday, White House Homeland Security Chief John Brennan indicated the Obama administration might not meet President Obama’s January 22, 2010, deadline to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay. When asked about the president’s executive order to close the prison within a year, Brennan stated, "I don’t have a crystal ball. At this point it is unknowable exactly how many people will be transferred next week, month, several months and what the conditions on the ground will be on 1 January and 21 January…Everybody is doing everything possible in the administration to realize the President's goal.”