ACLU in Guantánamo Bay to Monitor First of New Military Commission Proceedings (3/26/2007)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.orgCalling Proceedings Deeply Flawed, Group Presses for Closure, Return to the
Constitution and Right to Due Process
NEW YORK - As the Guantánamo Bay military commission proceedings began today
under new, flawed rules, the American Civil Liberties Union reiterated its call
to close Guantánamo and return to a legal system in line with the Constitution
and the right to due process.
“Guantánamo Bay is a failure in the history of the American legal system and
our commitment to due process. It must be closed,” said Anthony D. Romero,
Executive Director of the ACLU. “The America we hold in our hearts and our minds
is not one where hundreds of men are locked up for years on end. The vast
majority of the men detained at Guantánamo Bay have never been charged, and
those who have been charged are subjected to a sham court proceeding.”
The ACLU is one of four organizations that have been granted status as human
rights observers at the military commission proceedings. When the tribunals
began in 2004, Romero and three ACLU lawyers attended the proceedings and
blogged about the experience so Americans could know the truth of
Guantánamo. The organization’s participation continues today with Ben
Wizner, an ACLU staff attorney; Wizner’s blog posts will be available at
www.aclu.org/gitmo
After two Supreme Court decisions rejecting the Bush administration's
detention policies at the facility, the legal status of the detainees there
remains unresolved. The ACLU continues to press the U.S. government to
close the Guantánamo Bay facility and to restore the right of due process under
the Constitution and international law.
The ACLU has continued to hold government leadership accountable by
litigating a Freedom of Information Act request for documents concerning the
treatment of prisoners held in U.S. custody. So far, more than 100,000 pages of
government documents detailing the torture and abuse of detainees have been
released as a result of this litigation. They are all available and
searchable on a public Web site: www.aclu.org/torturefoia
In addition, the ACLU and Human Rights First have charged that the Secretary
of Defense bears direct responsibility for the torture and abuse of detainees,
and filed a complaint in federal court in January 2006 on behalf of nine men
subjected to torture and abuse under his command. More information is
available online at
www.aclu.org/rumsfeld
Many of the ACLU's concerns with the military commissions are available
online at www.aclu.org/militarycommissions
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