January 11 2018 marks the beginning of 17 years of Guantanamo Detentions

Yes, 17 years. And there is no end in sight.
My own client will start his 17th year in June. We have gone through two completely hapless presidents- Bush and OBama -- and now we have a dangerous moron. I suggest to all of you that although it is easy to be complacent this is not the time. The new administration is trying to take the Guantanamo experiment one step further- to include citizens in the policy of indefinite detention without charge. Please stand up and be counted.

Here are some events over the Next Week in DC.
I will post more as I learn of more:

  

Tuesday, January 9th, 6:30 pm
UNJUSTIFIABLE MEANS BY MARK FALLON
Kramer Books, 1517 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036

“President Trump wants to bring back torture. This is why he’s wrong…In Unjustifiable Means, Fallon reveals this dark side of the United States government, which threw our own laws and international covenants aside to become a nation that tortured—sanctioned by the highest-ranking members of the Bush Administration, the Army, and the CIA, many of whom still hold government positions, although none have been held accountable.”  –kramers.com

Wednesday, January 10th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
THERE IS A MAN UNDER THAT HOOD: CLOSING GUANTANAMO AND ENDING TORTURE
Impact Hub, 419 7th St., NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20004
PEACE POETS – ANDY WORTHINGTON – ALIYA HUSSAIN – BOOK LAUNCH
Sponsored by Witness Against Torture & Center for Constitutional Rights

Please join us for a performance, speakers, and book launch on the eve of our annual January 11 demonstrations against Guantanamo. The book — “There is a Man Under that Hood” — sets the words of Luke Nephew’s (Peace Poets) remarkable poem of that title to images of anti-torture demonstrations: photographs taken or curated by Justin Norman (WAT). The afterword is written by Omar Farah, Senior Staff Attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights.
 

Thursday, January 11th, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
RALLY TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO AND STOP TORTURE
White House, Lafayette Square, Washington, DC 20006
Hosted by a coalition of 15 organizations

Please join human rights activists, torture survivors, Guantánamo attorneys, 9-11 family members, ex-military officials, and members of diverse faith communities in Washington, D.C. on January 11, 2018, the 16th anniversary of the opening of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, as they rally to close the prison, end indefinite detention, dismantle Islamophobia, and call for the immediate transfer of the cleared detainees.
 

Thursday, January 11th, 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
GUANTANAMO UNDER TRUMP
New America, 740 15th St., NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005
ANDY WORTHINGTON – KAREN GREENBERG – THOMAS B. WILNER – MODERATED BY PETER BERGEN

“What will happen to the prison and its detainees in the remaining years of the Trump administration? Will Donald Trump reverse course and increase the number of detainees held there? Will the prison ever close?”  –newamerica.org

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2018 Fast for Justice
Witness Against Torture will be hosting activists for the entire week, Jan. 7 – 14, for its 2018 Fast for Justice.  Click here for the tentative schedule.  For RSVP or further information:  please email witnesstorture@gmail.com.

Christmas Time in Washington....

The Slippery Slope We Warned You About....

There are a lot of reasons why I and other attorneys decided to represent the men at Guantanamo. Foremost, to me anyway, was the fact that as an attorney I swore to uphold the constitution. The detention of the men at Guantanamo was an affront to our constitution. Another reason was that if we do not stop these illegal detentions of non-citizens eventually it will be applied to citizens.

For over three months a U.S. Citizen has been "detained" in Iraq without legal counsel and without charge. A judge held yesterday that this had to stop...finding the Trump administration's position both disingenuous and  troubling.

Read the rest here.

Dedicated Gitmo Attorneys...

There have been hundreds of us over the years. Here is a profile on one of the newer additions...

h/o to Don.

Secretary of defense visits Gitmo

You wouldn't think this would be news but it is the first visit by a secretary of defense since January 2002- when Rumsfeld went to the base after the first "war on terror" detainees began arriving. sigh.

Read more here.

The men Obama left behind.

One of the more disgusting aspects of the trump administration (in regards to Gitmo) are the men who were set to be released but bureaucratic reasons kept them from being released under Obama leaving them at the mercy of the trump administration...

More here.

Human Rights Interlude continues

Human Rights Musical Interlude

Happy Human Rights Day...

We don't celebrate this particular holiday here in the U S of A but for those of you who live in countries where human rights are recognized we salute you. For the rest of us this musical interlude is  dedicated to you:

Some Good News...

But of course the good news does not emanate from my country- where every day the news is worse than the day before.... but I digress.
Saudi Arabia is releasing a group of the men that they agreed to take prior to Obama leaving office. The men have been held by the Saudi government in its so-called "deradicalization" program. The Saudi government also announce it will release another 4 next month.

Read about it here.

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian....

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GENERAL BAKER: RELEASED FROM CONFINEMENT AT CAMP JUSTICE

AT GUANTÁNAMO, THE PENTAGON HAS COMPLETED THE BIZARRE TRIAL OF AHMED AL-DARBI. HE WAS CONVICTED BY GUILTY PLEA - THE ONLY SURE WAY - IN A MILITARY COURT, FOR WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY CIVILIAN PIRACY.  

THE ACTS GIVING RISE TO THE PROSECUTION HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH WAR, OR EVEN THE US, AND THEY OCCURRED IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS FAR FROM THE US. NO AMERICAN SHIPS OR CITIZENS WERE INVOLVED.   

MR DARBI WILL NOW BE A WITNESS AGAINST ABD AL-RAHIM AL-NASHIRI IN YET ANOTHER, EQUALLY IMPOSSIBLE, NON-WAR CASE (SO RECOGNISED SINCE IT BEGAN).  

AL-NASHIRI'S CASE WAS RECENTLY DERAILED BY THE RESIGNATION - FOR ETHICAL REASONS - OF THE DEFENCE TEAM, JUST AS THE SUPREME COURT EVADED NASHIRI'S VERY SOUND APPEAL. 

AT THAT POINT, THE NASHIRI COMMISSION EXPERIMENT BLEW UP, WITH THE NASHIRI JUDGE SENSATIONALLY HOLDING CHIEF DEFENCE COUNSEL JOHN BAKER - A BRIGADIER GENERAL AND THE SECOND RANKING LAWYER IN THE MARINE CORPS - IN CONTEMPT, SENTENCING HIM TO 21 DAYS AND A FINE.   

NEXT, THE GENERAL FILED HIS OWN HABEAS ACTION, BUT BEFORE DC JUDGE ROYCE LAMBERTH COULD RULE, THE PENTAGON'S "CONVENING AUTHORITY" SUSPENDED THE CONTEMPT ORDER PENDING APPEAL, AND GEN. BAKER WAS RELEASED FROM CONFINEMENT IN HIS MODEST TRAILER BEHIND "CAMP JUSTICE".

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ENTARTETE KUNST

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION SHOWED ITS AFFECTION FOR THIRD REICH NATIONAL SECURITY KULTUR BY ADOPTING THE UNSETTLING GESTAPO EXPRESSION, VERSCHÄRFTE VERNEHMUNG: "ENHANCED INTERROGATION".

WHILE THE WEHRMACHT MIGHT HAVE SCRUPLED AT THE PLÜNDERUNG OF A PRISONER, OBAMA'S ARMED FORCES HAD NO PROBLEM PILLAGING THE LIFE SAVINGS OF DJAMEL AMEZIANE, A FORCIBLY-REPATRIATEDGUANTANAMERO: HE COULDN'T BE TRUSTED TO USE HIS FUNDS RESPONSIBLY.

UNDER TRUMP, THE PENTAGON HAS EXTENDED THIS PRINCIPLE TO CONFISCATE ART BY GUANTÁNAMO INMATES, ON THE SAME THEORY: THAT MONEY - E.G. PROCEEDS FROM A NEW YORK EXHIBIT OF THEIR ART - COULD BE PUT TO NEFARIOUS PURPOSES; TELLINGLY, AMEZIANE IS AMONG THE ARTISTS IN THE SHOW.    

CLEARLY, IT'S ENTARTETE KUNST.

Read the rest here.....

Military Rule overrides the Court's in the Good old U S of A

An attorney who was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and forced to testify in a Guantanamo Bay terror proceeding is ready to take the government to the court. On Monday, Stephen Gill will take the first legal step toward suing the U.S. Marshals and the Department of Defense for $1.375 million, The Daily Beast has learned.

At issue is a question that could impact every American citizen: Do U.S. military commissions have the power to arrest Americans without showing them a warrant, fly them hundreds of miles away from their homes, lock them up without access to legal counsel, and force them to testify? The administrative claim—which is the first step to a lawsuit against the federal government—is being filed by Mark Zaid, a national security attorney who sometimes assists The Daily Beast with Freedom of Information Act litigation.

Read the rest of this troubling issue here.

Talking Dog interviews Mark Fallon

Another great interview from the dog.

Read it here.

Speaking of Clusterfuck....

Seems Mike Flynn has had alot on his plate...with his background in the so-called "counter terrorism" strategy that proved so helpful for our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq- rounding up people like my clients and carting them off to Guantanamo, without rhyme, reason or cause. So, I guess it is no surprise that Flynn would use those same talents after retiring. Lying of course comes naturally to these guys (using guys in the generic sense- there were some prominent gals in this mix too). It is really no surprise that Flynn lied about his contacts with Turkey and miscellaneous misrepresentations about other topics, but the part that must have come most naturally to him (given his vast experience) is the apparent plot to kidnap Fethullah Gulen- the cleric living legally here in the US-but wanted desperately by Turkey's rogue president Erdogan. Illegal renditions were a main part of the strategy used by my government in our forever wars so maybe Mr. Flynn didn't really understand that it is illegal?? And since we paid bounties for most of the men brought to Guantanamo perhaps Flynn thought this was ok too? (Although as far as I know we did not pay $15 million for any of those men.) But I am sure Flynn has expenses so he probably thought that was a good price to pay for kidnapping the cleric and dropping him off at a Turkish Island prison.
Anyway, Marcy Wheeler has put together a good background on what might have been going on based on the news dripping out... read her analysis here.

The Irony of it all....

Yes, there is something ironic about the General who is representing men being held at Guantanamo being himself detained (at Guantanamo but house arrest not in the prison itself!) and having to hire his own habeas counsel to file a habeas petition on his own behalf.
I am sure General Baker is not laughing at any of this but you have to wonder how much more absurd this is going to get.
Read more here... and stay tuned.

Let me back up for one minute... General Baker was "temporarily" released from his captivity prior to the article I posted above... You can read about his temporary release here.

The legal term for this whole scenario is clusterfuck.