Today was the opening of the military commission against David Matthew Hicks, the 29-year-old Australian who has been held in Gitmo for over two years. Today Mr. Hicks saw his mom and dad for the first time in all those years in what was described as an intensely emotional meeting. We spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Hicks during a break and they held a press conference at the end of the day. Mr. Hicks actually reminded me of my dad. With a father's unconditional love for his son, his concern was that his boy had been denied due process and had been kept from his family for all this time.
He also told us that his son had told him and Mrs. Hicks of his physical and emotional abuse while in U.S. government custody. He didn't want to go into detail because that will be raised in the subsequent proceedings. But, I thought you would want to know that the 老澳门开奖结果 received a response yesterday in our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding any documents relevant to the use of torture on U.S. government bases overseas, including Guantanamo.
Defying a judge's order to turn over those documents in our litigation that pre-dated the Abu Ghraib scandal, the government has shown once again its disdain for the need to ensure accountability and transparency. This time they're fighting a U.S. federal judge and we'll definitely keep you posted on the lawsuit as it evolves. Needless to say, it has obvious implications for the Hicks case and the other Guantanamo commissions. (See news release: 老澳门开奖结果 Decries Government's Continued Stonewalling in Lawsuit Over Torture Documents)
Concerning what happened at the commissions today, we're beginning to see concrete examples of the structural problems that we were anticipating. Defense counsel, led by the brilliant civilian attorney Josh Dratel and the enormously talented Marine Maj. Michael (Dan) Mori, filed 19 motions to dismiss today. Now think about it. If defense counsel had to file that many motions to dismiss raising basic issues around rules, jurisdiction, constitutional law and international law - it seems pretty clear that the rules and structures for these commissions are woefully inadequate.
Another issue that became clearer today is the significant power of the presiding officer, setting him above the other so-called "peers" on the commission. When defense counsel began asking complicated legal questions of the other commissioners in the voir dire, Mr. Brownback would often step in to "clarify" or even amend the question. For instance, when one commissioner was struggling to understand the standard of guilt needed for these tribunals, Mr. Brownback stepped in to "protect" the commissioners from tough questions. This, of course, may make Mr. Brownback's "peers" grateful to him and maybe more willing to go along with him in the future. We'll see?
Finally, you should also know that the Hicks' defense team is the best-resourced of all of them. It took more than two tables to array the defense counsel and Mr. Hicks, compared to the one of yesterday's commission. Hicks has two military lawyers, one civilian lawyer, one Australian lawyer and paralegal assistants. But on Friday, only one lawyer is expected to appear.
It appears that this second-class system of justice is getting more refined based on ethnicity and background. John Walker Lindh (a white American) certainly got the best treatment in U.S. criminal court; David Hicks follows - remember that Australia is an ally - and then you have men from Arab and Muslim countries bringing up the rear. This disparate treatment among detainees of different races and ethnicities is increasingly apparent.
Several Arab colleagues who are bilingual also tell me that the level of translation can be dismal at times, that there are significant mistakes in the official charge sheet and that the simultaneous translation in the commission can be incomprehensible at times. (See my weblog from Wednesday.) And for the men being processed through the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, with their "personal representative," the translation seems to be even worse.
But think, my friends, what if this process doesn't work in Hicks' case? If it can't work here, how can it possibly work with all those commissions that are more poorly staffed and resource-starved? And, how can they possibly recreate this process for the more than 581 men who are still not a part of it and are detained here? Something has to change or the shining example of American justice may unravel, rocking our faith in ourselves as well as the world's belief in us. We deserve better.
I'll keep you posted tomorrow.
Anthony
P.S. The relationship between Mr. Brownback and Mr. Altenburg who is the appointing authority and Mr. Brownback's boss appears to have been even more extensive than I told you yesterday. In today's voir dire, we learned that Mr. Altenburg spoke at Mr. Brownback's retirement party, that they attended family weddings and that they know each other pretty well. You'll remember that Mr. Altenburg is charged with reviewing and possibly overturning any of the rulings made by Mr. Brownback. And, even if this relationship can be fully professional, we have to face facts that it looks bad and may not pass the laugh test with the rest of the world. What's hard to understand is that given the expected high-profile nature of these commissions, why wouldn't the government take greater consideration of appearances and go the extra mile to deepen public confidence in this so-called fair and independent process?
P.P.S. Members of the 老澳门开奖结果 family asked what they can do. Are you up for an e-mail action alert on the Guantanamo issues and possibly giving us access to the briefings and visits that we've been denied? If so, we'll organize it, 'cause we could use your help.
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Free Speech
National Security
老澳门开奖结果 and Partners Urge Supreme Court to Block TikTok Ban老澳门开奖结果 and Partners Urge Supreme Court to Block TikTok Ban
WASHINGTON 鈥� Today, the 老澳门开奖结果, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to block the enforcement of a law that would effectively ban people in America from using TikTok as soon as January 19, 2025. Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected TikTok鈥檚 challenge to the law. TikTok has asked the Supreme Court for a temporary injunction to prevent the app from being banned while the court considers whether to take the case, saying that unless the justices intervene, the law will 鈥渟hutter one of America鈥檚 most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration.鈥� 鈥淭he Constitution imposes an extraordinarily high bar on this kind of mass censorship,鈥漵aid Patrick Toomey, deputy director of 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淭he Supreme Court should take up this important case and protect the rights of millions of Americans to freely express themselves and engage with others around the world.鈥� The brief argues that the D.C. Circuit failed to fully address the law鈥檚 profound implications for the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok. While the lower court鈥檚 decision correctly recognized that the statute triggers First Amendment scrutiny, it barely addressed users鈥� First Amendment interests in speaking, sharing, and receiving information on the platform. The court also perplexingly attempted to cast the government鈥檚 ban on TikTok as a vindication of users鈥� First Amendment rights, which it is not. The rights groups also explain that the law was intended to suppress certain content and viewpoints that many legislators believe could be amplified on TikTok, including the risk of foreign 鈥減ropaganda.鈥� But under the First Amendment, the government must meet a very high bar to restrict speech based on concerns about its 鈥渕otivating ideology鈥� or 鈥減erspective,鈥� and the government has not come close to meeting that bar here. 鈥淭he government should not be able to restrict speech, especially to the extent here, based on guessing about the mere possibility of uncertain future harm,鈥� said David Greene, civil liberties director at EFF. 鈥淭he Supreme Court should put the TikTok ban on hold while it considers the DC Circuit鈥檚 erroneous ruling.鈥� Finally, the brief underscores that the government can鈥檛 impose this type of sweeping ban unless it鈥檚 necessary to prevent extremely serious and imminent harm to national security. But the government has not provided evidence of impending harm, or evidence that banning TikTok is the only available way to address its concerns. As the brief explains, the D.C. Circuit improperly treated the government鈥檚 invocation of 鈥渘ational security鈥� as a trump card and failed to hold the government to its burden. 鈥淩estricting citizens鈥� access to foreign media is a practice that has long been associated with repressive regimes, and we should be very wary of letting the practice take root here,鈥� said Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. 鈥淚t would do lasting damage to the First Amendment and our democracy if the Supreme Court let this ban go into effect even temporarily.鈥� You can find the brief online here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A587/335380/20241217144322392_24A587%20TikTok%20v%20Garland%20Amicus%20Brief%20pdfa.pdf -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
National Security
Religious Liberty
老澳门开奖结果 Statement on New White House Strategy to Counter Islamophobia老澳门开奖结果 Statement on New White House Strategy to Counter Islamophobia
WASHINGTON 鈥� The Biden administration today released the first-ever national strategy to counter Islamophobia and related forms of bias and discrimination, including hate against Arab, Sikh, and South Asian Americans. In advance of the strategy, 老澳门开奖结果 and its partners had urged the administration to overhaul government programs that reflect anti-Muslim discrimination. In particular, we have called for urgent action to constrain governmental agencies from continuing to exercise their authorities and technology to wrongly surveil and investigate, watchlist, and question and detain Muslims at the border, as well as deny immigration benefits to people from Muslim-majority countries. While the White House raised expectations that many of these issues would be addressed, the final strategy ended up falling far short. The following is a statement from Hina Shamsi, director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project: 鈥淲hile this strategy acknowledges discrimination and its harms, it does little to end them and is a squandered opportunity. For decades, American officials have invoked national security to pass laws and implement programs that disproportionately harm Muslims and people perceived to be Muslim. A serious anti-discrimination strategy would concretely address multiple bias-infused government practices that deny our communities equal participation in civic life and our democracy, like federal watchlisting, surveillance, and investigation. We鈥檙e profoundly frustrated that the administration didn鈥檛 take even the basic, overdue step of recognizing that anti-Muslim discrimination is uniquely normalized and embedded in government policies.鈥� -
VirginiaDec 2024
National Security
Trabelsi v. Crawford, et al. 鈥� Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Detention and Inhumane Treatment of Acquitted ManTrabelsi v. Crawford, et al. 鈥� Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Detention and Inhumane Treatment of Acquitted Man
Our client, Nizar Trabelsi, is in the United States against his will. The federal government brought him here from Belgium more than a decade ago and charged him with terrorism-related crimes. At trial, the government鈥檚 case failed: a federal jury found Mr. Trabelsi not guilty. But instead of allowing Mr. Trabelsi to return to Belgium after his acquittal, the United States placed him in highly restrictive immigration detention and began an ongoing effort to force him to Tunisia, where he was born and where he will very likely be tortured. Mr. Trabelsi鈥檚 detention violates the Constitution, immigration law, and the extradition treaty between the United States and Belgium. Through this lawsuit, he seeks to return to Belgium, and he demands an immediate improvement of his detention conditions. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
National Security
Immigrants' Rights
Federal Judge Rejects Acquitted Man鈥檚 Argument That His Immigration Detention Is UnlawfulFederal Judge Rejects Acquitted Man鈥檚 Argument That His Immigration Detention Is Unlawful
ALEXANDRIA, Va. 鈥� This week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the government can continue to detain Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian national who was brought to the United States against his will for prosecution and was cleared of all charges last year. The ruling means the United States will be able to continue to detain Mr. Trabelsi while it attempts to deport him to Tunisia, where he was born and where, as an immigration judge ruled earlier this year, he will likely face torture. The court also concluded that even if it did have jurisdiction over Mr. Trabelsi鈥檚 case, his claims challenging the government鈥檚 detention of him would fail. 鈥淩eviewing claims that the government is holding someone unlawfully is at the core of the judicial function, and we鈥檙e heartbroken for our client that the court got this so wrong,鈥� said Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Center for Democracy. 鈥淭he government鈥檚 arguments in defense of Mr. Trabelsi鈥檚 detention makes a hash of the Constitution, immigration laws, and its own extradition treaty.鈥� In 2013, the United States forcibly extradited Mr. Trabelsi from Belgium to face criminal charges in the United States. In July 2023, after almost 10 years of highly restrictive pretrial detention, a federal jury cleared Mr. Trabelsi of all charges. But instead of releasing Mr. Trabelsi or returning him to Belgium, the U.S. transferred him to immigration detention, wrongly treating him as an applicant for admission and placing him in the deportation process. Over the years, the Belgian government has issued multiple formal diplomatic requests asking the U.S. to facilitate his return, but the U.S. has refused to send him back. Mr. Trabelsi filed a lawsuit challenging the government's authority to detain him. He also sought immediate improvements to his detention conditions. Those claims were not part of the court鈥檚 ruling today, and will continue to be litigated on a separate track. 鈥淢r. Trabelsi only wants to return to Belgium after being illegally extradited to the United States, held for ten years, and then acquitted by a jury of any crimes,鈥� said Nicole Hallett, clinical professor of law and director of the Immigrants鈥� Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. 鈥淗e cannot be held indefinitely and we will continue to fight to make sure that justice ultimately prevails.鈥� Mr. Trabelsi is represented by the 老澳门开奖结果, the University of Chicago Law School鈥檚 Immigrants鈥� Rights Clinic, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Virginia, and Professor Jonathan Hafetz of Seton Hall Law School. The complaint in Trabelsi v. Crawford was filed against Jeffrey Crawford, warden of the Farmville Detention Center where Mr. Trabelsi is being held; Liana Castano, ICE field office director for the Washington Field Office; Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Merrick Garland, U.S. attorney general.