John Lennon

No I didn't forget yesterdays anniversary (28 years ago) but I was on the road. Click on the title.

FIRE JOHN YOO

This week the Berkeley City council (thanks talking dog) will take up the issue of whether or not to ask the Justice Department to file charges against John Yoo. Maybe it is just me but the timing seems off a bit.... Maybe January 21st might be a better day.... (just thinking out loud).
John Yoo deserves to be tried and (hopefully) convicted of his war crimes and crimes against humanity and if you want to learn how you can do more to get the man behind the torture policies out of a job click on the title.

Supreme Court Grants Cert in Al-Marri case

Click on the title to go to Scotusblog and read more. The question presented to the Court:

Whether Congress, in passing the Authorization for Use of Military Force after September 11, authorized the indefinite military detention of a legal immigrant seized on domestic soil whom the government alleged to have conspired with al Qaeda to carry out attacks against the United States.

Al-Marri came to the US on a student visa with his wife and children. He was picked up and first held as a material witness then moved to solitary confinement in one of our military prisons where he has never been charged with anything. He has been held in Guantanamo like surroundings for more than six years. It is almost like the government is testing how far they could go: first with Padilla, a US citizen held without charge and then Al-Marri who was in the US on a valid visa.... next question is whether they will try to move him out of military detention and into state charges like they did with Padilla when the judicial heat was on.

The talking dog has more....

Makes you want to visit the US doesn't it?

A Nod to our Friends up North...

For those of you who have not been paying attention there has been a bit of real political life going on up in Canada. Harper, the Bush clone of the northland, thought he and Canada could sleep through the current economic crisis... seems the other political parties thought that was just a tad stupid so they formed a new coalition government to oust Harper and start taking care of the country.... in a desperate move Harper had parliament put to sleep for seven weeks and as I was reading a Canadian website peace, order and good government, eh? I was envious that we can't do the same ...but a piece of advice in one of the blog/comments... basically telling parliament to meet and prepare all the bills and have them ready to shove through when the door swings open... just seemed abit poignant...and I thought hmmmm, good advice for a certain incoming president too.
Good luck to our progressive friends up north.

Signing on to the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Click on the title to read an op-ed by Richard Cohen on why Obama should "re sign" the US as a member of the ICC.
A while back a commenter here asked why we couldn't send our Guantanamo prisoners to that court and it raises an interesting issue that I have been thinking about. If we signed on to the Court could we ask them to take the few (and yes very few) men at guantanamo who may actually be war criminals?

Obama should prosecute Bush officials who designed torture policy

Michael Ratner is the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights... the umbrella organization for all of the guantanamo habeas counsel... Click on the title to read his very insightful opinion piece on why we need to prosecute war criminals not just learn "the truth".

I have to say there is a certain joy in thinking that Bush may pardon all of these war criminals... that would leave the prosecution to the rest of the world... and there are some countries that just might do it.

goodbye to Odetta

Sec. Gates and Guantanamo

Gates is saying that we need legislation to close Guantanamo (bullshit) and to keep the men from being released to the US (bigger bullshit). We don't need any legislation. Men that are found innocent by the courts should be allowed into the US... the fact that they were kidnapped by us and have no where else to go is not their fault. And how can we look any country in the eye and suggest that they take some of the men when we refuse to take any?
Is this a trial balloon from the Obama Camp or a last gasp from the Bush camp? I sure do not know but it worries me.

Are Torture Commissions The Way To Go? (UPDATED)

There has been alot of discussion amongst those of us involved in the Guantanamo litigation about what the best policy is for unearthing and making public all that has happened with our secret prisons, torture, and other violations of human rights. Many have suggested something styled after the truth and reconciliation commissions and now the International Center for Transitional Justice has completed its year long inquiry and concluded that is the way to go...And the London times jumps in with this piece by Andrew Sullivan.
I am not convinced but perhaps it is a good starting point.
Hats off to Harpers Scott Horton for bringing these to my attention.
Click on the title to read more.

Several people have emailed me to ask why I am not convinced that truth commissions are the way to go. To put it bluntly: why bother if we are not going to use the truth to prosecute our criminals? When someone murders your neighbor you do not ask for a truth commission to look into the murder, you gather the facts and prosecute the individual. We are talking not just about murder but also human rights violations on a massive scale and the shredding of our constitution. If the truth commissions are proposed as a way to gather all of the facts for a future prosecution then I am all for it.... if however, as I suspect, the commissions are the endgame ...then screw it.

Chinese Uighers and the power struggle with the Executive

Click on the title for a good run down on the controversy between the Bush Administration and the Judiciary over the plight of the Uighers... the Uighers are men that have been held at Guantanamo for almost seven years, the government has admitted they are not enemy combatants,the federal court ordered them released to the US but the Bushies have tied up their release claiming they are a threat to us... even if not to the rest of the world....sigh.

An Interrogator speaks out...

A US military interrogator speaks about the "guantanamo method" of interrogation used in Iraq and why it will not and cannot work.
Click on the title to read more.

MORE LINKS FROM OUR CANADIAN FRIEND (updated)

HATS OFF TO KAPTAIN KANADA FOR THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/913662.html

http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/early-ruling-on-detainee-process/

http://www.startribune.com/nation/35210944.html

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11063128

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202426254333&rss=newswire

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/30/international/i080519S03.DTL&feed=rss.news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7757225.stm

(just copy and paste the ones that you can't click on....)
THERE ARE SO MANY MORE THAT HE SENT BUT THIS SHOULD KEEP YOU BUSY FOR NOW.

Op-Ed from Sabin Willett (one of the Uigher attorneys)

Now here is an idea for you... judge the Guantanamo cases by the facts as they are .... not the facts as Mukasey and his idea of a justice department would like them to be.
Click on the title to read the op-ed

Bin Laden's "driver" to be released to Yemen?

Bin Laden driver to be moved from Guantanamo

(CNN) -- The former driver and bodyguard of Osama bin Laden will be moved from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Monday, several U.S. sources told CNN.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for years, will be moved to his native Yemen to serve the final weeks of his sentence, the sources said.

Hamdan was convicted by a military commission in August of a war crime -- providing material support to al Qaeda -- but was cleared of more serious terrorism conspiracy charges.

He was found guilty of being the terror leader's bodyguard and driver, and of receiving weapons training and transporting and delivering arms. However, the commission rejected charges that Hamdan conspired with others in carrying out al Qaeda attacks, including those of September 11, 2001.

Hamdan received a 66-month prison sentence, which was due to be completed by the end of the year, because he had received credit for time served before being found guilty.

November 23, 2004

It was four years ago today that my client Mr. Al-Ghizzawi was found by the Military's Combat Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) to NOT be an enemy combatant.... Seemed like an appropriate anniversary to file his petition for certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court. I filed it with the Court Security Office today. When it is cleared for public consumption I will post it here.