American Civil Liberties Union

The United States is currently detaining hundreds of individuals indefinitely without charge or trial. Some are being held at Guantánamo and others at the prison at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. In March 2011, President Obama issued an executive order that permits ongoing indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees while establishing a periodic administrative review process for them.

While the government has the right, under the laws of war, to detain prisoners captured on the battlefield until the end of hostilities, no president should have the power to declare the entire globe a war zone and then seize and detain civilian terrorism suspects anywhere in the world — including within the United States — and to hold them forever without charge or trial. But the Bush and Obama administrations have done just that, defining their powers too broadly, and claiming the authority to pick up and detain without charge or trial prisoners from around the globe who they deem engaged in the "war on terror."

If there is reliable evidence against a detainee, he should be prosecuted in our federal courts, which are well-equipped to handle sensitive national security evidence while protecting fundamental rights. If there is not enough reliable evidence for prosecution, there is certainly not enough to justify locking them up – possibly forever.

Imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial is illegal, un-American and an impediment to achieving justice.

ACLU In Supreme Court Today Arguing Former A.G. Ashcroft Should Be Held Accountable For Wrongful Arrest And Detention Of U.S. Citizen »

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