TOP TEN GUANTANAMO JUDGES

The talking dog and Guantanamo historian Andy Worthington came up with a list of the Top Ten Guantanamo Judges/Judicial decisions. Each came up with their own top five independently and it is worth noting that the top ten list actually only includes nine (both picked the Supreme Court). Click on the title to read the article and let us know if there is someone they missed.

For those of you in the Chicago area on Jan. 9th

Seven years ago on January 9th the doors at Guantanamo first opened. On this auspicious occasion please come and hear me talk about the illegal detentions: what it looks like today and what we can do to close it.
Click on the title for details.

This is Not A Good Day for the World

Thank you Kaptain Kanada for sending this on.

Portugal was first... but now they are lining up (Updated)

Seems old Europe wants to help our new president close Guantanamo... Germany, Norway, Switzerland, and now Great Britain have agreed to take prisoners... Things are looking good for our clients in the New Year.
Australia too!

Judge Denies Habeas Petitions for Two (updated)

Unfortunately J. Leon (the same judge that exonerated the 6 Algerian/Bosnians) denied habeas petitions for two men yesterday. The Judge refused to take into account evidence that certain statements made by the men were made after being tortured. Tough day for those men.
The ruling against the Yemeni captive, Moath Hamza Ahmed Al Alwi, can be found here. The ruling against the Tunisian prisoner, Hisham Sliti, can be found here. (thanks to Scotus for the cites)

Petition for Special Prosecutor for War Crimes

Click on the title and sign the petition to Obama's new Attorney General asking for a special prosecutor to look into our war crimes... also read the entire article and see what else you can do to help.

No Shame

Just when you think you have heard it all... there is this.
(Click on the title)

Part 2 of the Stephen Abraham Interview

Hats off to Kaptain Kanada for sending this on. In this part of the interview by Andy Worthington Abraham talks about the only Tribunal Panel he sat on... that was for my client Mr. Al-Ghizzawi. The Panel found him not to be an enemy combatant but yet he still sits at Guantanamo.
Click on the title to read the interview.

Is Gates guilty of perjury?

Andy Worthington discusses the affidavit that was provided to habeas counsel from Gates (click on the title). Maybe this comes down to the word "encountered"? One thing that is sure is that we have not received exculpatory information for our clients (information that would tend to show they are not guilty). So far we have been left to our own investigations for proving our clients innocence but it is a legal obligation that the government give us the exculpatory information. Will the "justice departments" tactics change on January 20th? One can only hope.

Harold Pinter RIP

In his lecture after receiving the Noble Prize in Literature in 2005 he spoke these words:

"The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law."

"How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand?".

Happy Holidays?

Andy Worthington Interviews Stephen Abraham

This is an amazing interview and when you read part two (next week) you will find that Col. Abraham sat on my clients panel (Al-Ghizzawi) when Al-Ghizzawi was found NOT to be an enemy combatant. Click on the title for more.

Less than one month

click on the title....

THE CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

As many of you know the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has been the umbrella organization for all of the volunteer attorneys (like me) in the Guantanamo litigation. They have helped us stay organized and working as a group. Unfortunately among many of Madoff's indirect victims is CCR. -- among CCR's significant donors are several foundations who were Madoff investors. Loss of their contributions is going to be material.
Please consider donating to CCR

medical records and independent medical exams

Well unfortunately the headline does not indicate any changes in Mr. Al-Ghizzawi's case but if you click on the title you can read how some of the Judges are starting to allow lawyers to obtain medical records and in one case the Judge is even allowing an independent medical review.