Detention & Habeas Corpus
In the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration authorized the wholesale detention of individuals suspected of terrorism. While in executive detention, which is often shrouded in secrecy, prisoners have been forbidden access to due process of the law and fair judicial review. Despite the fact that habeas corpus is a constitutionally protected law that allows the imprisoned to question the grounds for their detention, the government has denied these individuals this right.
The
Geren v. Omar and Munaf v. Geren
The Brennan Center represents two United States citizens, Shawqi Omar and Mohammad Munaf, who have been detained by the United States in Iraq for more than two years, and whose cases will be heard in the Supreme Court in March 2008.
The Brennan Center is defending a Qatari national who is the only person detained as an “enemy combatant” in the United States. Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was imprisoned without trial and without due process. The case was recently heard en banc in the Fourth District Court on October 31, 2007, and we are awaiting the decision.
Arar v. Ashcroft (Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
The Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a group of federal judges in support of Maher Arar, a Canadian who was subject to extraordinary rendition to Syria.
Convictions: More Hypocrisy at Guantanamo
Even as criticism mounts, Guantánamo’s underlying hypocrisy endures. That hypocrisy manifested itself again last week in a little-noticed decision…
Convictions: John Yoo’s Tour de Force
John Yoo’s recently released March 14, 2003, OLC memo is a tour de force of legal analysis gone bad. The memo has been rightly vilified here and elsewhere for making the president a king and for contributing to a torture culture in America. But even though Yoo’s memo has been repudiated, its discredited ideas live on....
If you watch Congress closely, you might have noticed that they’ve been buying a lot of beachfront property in New Mexico over the last few years.
Illustrations by Risko
U.S. Government Admits It Destroyed Videotape in Enemy Combatant Case
Yesterday the U.S. government admitted, for the first time, that officials destroyed videotapes that documented interrogations of Ali Almarri, the only alleged “enemy combatant” still detained on U. S. soil.
Discredited Yoo Memos Led to “Enemy Combatant” Detainment and Denial of Habeas Corpus
Today, the Brennan Center for Justice asked a federal court to end the detention of a U.S. resident who is being held on the advice of long-discredited Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memos which sought to justify torture and indefinite detention.
Government Fails to Muzzle “Peace Pastor” Frederick Boyle
Rev. Boyle, the ordained minister known as the Peace Pastor, reached an agreement with the federal government today that ends his unfair prosecution and maintains his right to speak out against the Iraq War.
Letter to Congress by Former Federal Judges
Letter to Congress from retired federal judges regarding Military Commissions Act of 2006
Feared, condemned sight-unseen and praised as a celebration of free speech, Fitna, a seventeen-minute film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, appeared on the Internet in late March. Fitna is a bombastic, bloody montage linking terrorist violence to Koranic texts.
Torture and Democracy: A Discussion with Professor Darius Rejali
Listen to Professor Darius Rejali talk about the issues at the center of his book, Torture and Democracy.
Listen to a panel discussion featuring Andy Worthington, Joanne Mariner, Wells Dixon, and Jonathan Hafetz on the timely and important issues revolving around the future of Guantánamo.