American Civil Liberties Union

In her testimony before the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee last week, Denny LeBoeuf, director of the ACLU's John Adams Project, highlighted a number of the most egregious flaws in the military commissions system. LeBoeuf cited, among other things:

As President Obama travels overseas, the ACLU reminds him that in order to restore America's name around the world, we must end indefinite detention and close Guantánamo. This ad appears in the July 10, 2009, edition of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera:

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We, along with other Americans concerned with the direction of President Obama's approach to national security, watched with bated breath as he gave his much-anticipated speech this morning addressing national security issues including the closure of Guantánamo and the revival of the military commissions. Yesterday, human rights groups including the ACLU met with the president and members of his cabinet and expressed concerns about the president's reported plans for indefinite detention for some terrorism suspects. While today's speech was refreshing in its efforts to acknowledge the importance of the Constitution and the rule of law, we remain concerned about those issues.