[ACLU-NM] Urge Congress to Shut Down Guantanamo Bay and Secret Prisons -- And Restore Rights

[Kimberly Lavender]

Adv New Banner <http://action.aclu.org/>  	
Congress needs to act now to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison and all
secret federal government facilities where individuals have been
tortured or abused, and make sure these horrors never happen again. 

The federal government is holding people indefinitely without charge in
Guantanamo Bay and in secret prisons around the globe. Persons as young
as fourteen have been imprisoned for nearly four years at Guantanamo Bay
without being charged, with no access to any attorney or court, and with
no meaningful chance to prove their innocence. 

Click here to urge your Members of Congress to shut down lawless
government detention centers and ensure the government provides basic
protections to all individuals being held.
<http://action.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&
id=225> 

Congress should act now to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison and
government-run secret detention centers. To ensure that closing these
prisons does not merely result in transferring abuse elsewhere, Congress
must also ensure that all prisoners get basic protections such as humane
treatment, access to a lawyer and a court, the right to know the
government's charge against them and a meaningful right to prove their
innocence. 

Abuse and torture occur at these lawless detentions centers. FBI agents
have reported government-funded abuse of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay,
including persons "chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the
floor, with no chair, food, or water. . . for 18, 24 hours or more." 

Some prisoners are being held in complete secrecy. The federal
government continues to hold prisoners, known as "ghost detainees," in
secret prisons around the globe. These prisons were created after
President Bush signed a secret presidential order based on a secret
memorandum scheming to keep prisoners off prison rolls and outside the
reach of the Red Cross. 

The government is also regularly shackling people and flying them on
government-chartered planes to countries such as Syria and Egypt where
they are tortured -- typically without any criminal charge or any useful
information being obtained. In one example, the government even
kidnapped a Canadian citizen in New York, flew him to Syria where he was
tortured for nine months, and then had him released -- without ever
charging him with any crime. 

The Defense Department estimates that it spends $100 million per year on
the Guantanamo Bay prison alone -- nearly $200,000 per prisoner.
Congress can cut all funds for Guantanamo Bay, for secret prisons and
for sending people to foreign countries that torture people. But
Congress must also make sure that it never happens again by making sure
that all prisoners have basic protections under the rule of law. 

Congress can restore checks and balances and bring detention policies in
line with the Constitution and the rule of law.
<http://action.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&
id=225> 

Click here to urge your Members of Congress to shut down lawless
government detention centers and ensure the government provides basic
protections to all individuals being held.
<http://action.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&
id=225> 

http://action.aclu.org/lawlessprisons
<http://action.aclu.org/lawlessprisons> 

 

June 16, 2005


Patriot Act Success! 


In the last two weeks thousands of people across the country have been
calling and writing Congress to speak out against the Patriot Act. 

These actions contributed to our latest success: just yesterday the
House of Representatives voted to deny funding for FBI access to library
and bookstore records under section 215 of the Patriot Act. 

Thank you for your efforts.  If you haven't called your members of
Congress yet to oppose the Patriot Act, click here to find out how.
<http://action.aclu.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=1740&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_A
CTION_USER_REQUESTS> 

Unlawful detention. 

Human rights violations. 

Monitoring and tracking of peaceful protestors. 

Expansion and renewal of the Patriot Act. 

Retaliation against government whistleblowers. 

Someone has to speak out. Take action today.
<http://action.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&
id=225> 


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about the ACLU Action Center today!


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