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Bringing Terrorism Suspects to Justice
The attempted bombing in Times Square intensified the debate about how to treat terrorism suspects and where they should be prosecuted. Now Obama administration officials are saying they may ask Congress to weaken the Miranda rule, a central principle of our justice system designed to ensure that evidence presented at trial is reliable.
Miranda plays an important role in our criminal justice system–a system that has proven more effective than military commissions at prosecuting terrorism suspects. Human Rights First is working with professional interrogators and law enforcement experts who know that we can get the intelligence we need to combat terrorism by working within the law and through our institutions.
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Want to see what Gitmo looks like? Watch our Video Diary
Military commissions have begun again, and Human Rights First is back at Guantanamo monitoring the hearings. If you want to see what it looks like on the island, check out our own Daphne Eviatar’s video diary.
Thanks to those who participated in our web chat last week. If you missed it, you can download the audio recording, or the transcript, on our blog.
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Advocacy Update: Carmelo Agamez
Thank you for supporting Carmelo Agamez and other Colombian activists unjustly detained or prosecuted for their human rights work.
We sent over 5,600 emails to the State Department and 2,400 to the Colombian Prosecutor General calling for due process in this and other cases. We shared the messages with Agamez himself, who is grateful for the support he has from all of you! We’ll keep you posted with updates on his appeal.
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HRF President and CEO Elisa Massimino testified last month before Congress about how to combat the rise in antisemitic violence. She pointed to our Ten Point Plan that shows governments how to stem violence driven by biases including religious intolerance, homophobia, racism, and other forms of discrimination.
This month, we’re focusing our attention on the newly elected Hungarian government in an effort to address the alarming rise in antisemitic and anti-Roma violence there.
On the Ground in the Middle East
HRF staff worked in the Middle East last month, tackling issues from the protection of refugees to support for human rights defenders’ use of the Internet for activism.
Members of our Refugee Protection team interviewed Iraqi refugees in Jordan as part of our work to make sure these refugees–victims of war and violence in their home country–are resettled. Stay tuned for our report and recommendations but, for a sneak preview, check out Jesse Bernstein’s Huffington Post article.
International Policy Advisor Neil Hicks traveled to Egypt to meet with human rights defenders and other stakeholders about the changing face of activism there–including the growth of Internet advocacy. As Egypt begins to plan for elections, HRF will be focusing on U.S. policy toward this strategic partner.
HRF In the News
The Guatemalan government made a big step toward accountability in a genocide case last month when it opened a critical military archive documenting the responsibility of top military commanders for mass atrocities in the 1980s. HRF’s Andrew Hudson commented to Reuters, which got picked up in several major newspaper outlets, including the Christian Science Monitor.
Google promoted transparency when it disclosed countries that censor–including the United States and Australia. Read Elisa Massimino’s commentary in the Huffington Post.