[Peace-discuss] Fwd: CCR Military Commissions update -- hopeful news

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Y'all get these updates?
   --Jenifer

Center for Constitutional Rights <ccr at mail.democracyinaction.org> wrote:
  Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:37:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Center for Constitutional Rights <ccr at mail.democracyinaction.org>
To: jencart13 at yahoo.com
Subject: CCR Military Commissions update

              center  for  constitutional  rights                      CCR UPDATE:  DEFENSE COUNSEL FOR GUANTÁNAMO MILITARY COMMISSIONS
  Dear Friend of CCR,

You may have noticed a flurry of media attention being paid to the Military Commissions.  We thought you might be interested in an update from CCR Executive Director, Vincent Warren:

I am pleased the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are joining the Center for Constitutional Rights in challenging the Military Commissions at Guantánamo and trying to provide adequate counsel for men facing the death penalty based on evidence obtained through torture. But amid all of the recent attention, our Nation must not lose sight of the critical failure of the Military Commissions: the impossibility of a fair trial and the existence of a political agenda is evidenced in the fact that the government has shamefully under funded and understaffed the military defense counsel charged with representing the men while providing more than ample resources for the military prosecutors. Moreover, while they are dedicated and experienced attorneys, not one of the lawyers in the Office of Military Commission Defense meets the American Bar Association standards for minimum qualifications for trial counsel in capital cases. 

The Military Commission system that CCR is currently fighting is cloaked in secrecy, tainted by torture, and stacked against the defendants. These are politically-motivated show trials created to allow the use of torture-induced testimony, secret evidence, and unidentified witness testimony that would never be permitted in a fair or real criminal court. That the government has forced charitable organizations to step in to try to redress some of the imbalance is unconscionable for a nation that prides itself on providing fair trials. 

CCR has represented Mohammed Al Qahtani since 2005. One of seven men to have death penalty charges announced by the Military Commission Prosecutor, Mr. al Qahtani was subjected to the "First Special Interrogation Plan" at Guantánamo, a regime of torture tactics approved by the highest officials within the Administration. The politicized commissions in Guantánamo will never afford him a fair trial or achieve the level of justice our country should be expected to afford any person whom it seeks to execute or imprison for life. The government is using the newly-created and tragically flawed Military Commission process to deliberately hide its state-approved torture and the unreliable evidence obtained through it and other illegal means. 

The Center began the legal battle over Guantánamo in early 2002. We've since organized and coordinated hundreds of pro-bono habeas lawyers across the country to represent the men at Guantánamo in federal courts, where their cases deserve to be heard. We worked with co-counsel to represent the detainees before the Supreme Court in 2004 and again on December 5, 2007, arguing that the men have the right to challenge their detention in a fair hearing before an independent judge, and we await the next decision this spring. 

Many cases of extremist violence have been successfully tried in U.S. and British criminal courts, with defendants now serving life sentences. If the government has a case against the men it seeks to charge before the Military Commissions, let them try it in a fair court instead of further undermining our credibility in the eyes of the world and dismantling the rule of law. CCR will relentlessly work to challenge the Military Commissions, and to restore the rule of law and the integrity of our country. We thank you for standing with us in these efforts.  Stay informed, stay active, speak out.

 

Vincent Warren 
Executive Director 
Center for Constitutional Rights

 
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. 

For more information: www.CCRjustice.org

 
  
                           Center for Constitutional Rights ll 666 Broadway 7th floor NY, NY 10012 ll 212-614-6464 ll www.ccrjustice.org               

       
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