The Tide is Turning in the Fight to Close Guantanamo

By Human Rights First's Sharon Kelly, cross-posted from Huffington Post:

Yesterday, a heated debate took place on the Senate floor over an amendment proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham that would have prevented the 9/11 defendants from facing justice in U.S. federal courts. It did not pass. In a major victory for our campaign to close Guantanamo (link) the Senate rejected this attempt to derail Guantanamo’s closure and prevent the United States from rebuilding our reputation.

The voices of dozens of retired military leaders, experienced prosecutors, correctional officers, and committed activists who all want to see Guantanamo swiftly closed – and understand that our institutions are up to the job of dealing with terrorist suspects -- is starting to break through and be heard by Congress. As we await the announcement of President Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo, we can be hopeful that the tide of fear-mongering that has muddied this debate is being to ebb.

Victories like this take work. Last night on the Senate floor, Senator Patrick Leahy pointed to the bipartisan declaration signed by 120 prominent Americans including former Members of Congress, high-ranking military officials and judges, that Human Rights First partnered with the Constitution Project to organize. As today’s Wall Street Journal noted, “Hours after the petition’s release, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have barred prosecuting Guantanamo inmates in federal court.”

Also yesterday, Human Rights First travelled to Michigan where a debate has been underway over whether Guantanamo detainees will be sent to the Standish prison facility. Two retired military leaders who travelled there with us had their message of support for closing Guantanamo appear in an op-ed published in the Detroit Free Press. Most importantly, this victory took the help of people all across the country. Within hours of sounding the alarm, thousands took action, sending messages to their Senators letting them know that they opposed this destructive amendment.

Join us in this important effort to make sure Guantanamo is closed. You can sign up to help and stay informed on our website and on Facebook.

Colombian Award Winner Gonzalez interviewed in the Huffington Post

Gabriel Gonzalez, one of the winners of Human Rights First's annual Human Rights Award, was featured in the Huffington Post today.

Thanks in large part to thousands of activists who urged the State Department to grant him a visa in time, Gonzalez was able to come to New York to receive the award, and go to D.C. for meetings on the Hill, and with Diane Tucker, the author of this article. Tucker describes his trip here, to receive our award and conduct advocacy, but also what he can expect upon return to Colombia:

Last week in Manhattan, veteran journalist Tom Brokaw presented the 2009 Human Rights Award to Gabriel Gonzalez, a young activist who opposes the inhumane treatment of Colombian prisoners. The thoughtful young man then flew home to Colombia, where he is charged with being a terrorist and faces seven years in prison.

Call it one heck of an identity crisis for Gonzalez, or better yet, call it "same old, same old" in Colombia, where the difference between "hero" and "rebel guerrilla" can be a matter of opinion, and all too often a matter of life and death. Last year, 11 human rights workers were murdered in Colombia. So far this year, at least nine have been killed, despite increased government protection.

Watch the video we showed at our awards dinner:

Read more about Colombian defenders and what Human Rights First is doing to help.

Italian Court Decision: an interview with Gabor Rona

Human Rights First's International Legal Director Gabor Rona discusses the implication of the Italian court ruling on extraordinary rendition. Check it out!

Courts, not Military Commissions, for Guantanamo Detainees

Andy Worthington refers to Human Rights First's In Pursuit of Justice reports in an article in Truthout about military commissions today, reminding:

As Lawyers at Human Rights First have been explaining for many years - most recently in an update to their report, "In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in the Federal Court" - in the last 20 years, federal courts have handled approximately 135 real-life terrorism prosecutions, and have secured convictions in over 90 percent of those cases. When the updated report was issued in July, Elisa Massimino, Human Rights First's chief executive officer, explained, "Politicians have spent eight years trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to prosecuting terrorism and that approach has failed miserably. This report makes clear that the best way forward is to rely on our existing legal system. Its track record of successfully prosecuting criminals, safeguarding national security, and addressing the complex legal issues of our time is unmatched."

Read the whole article here, and join our Guantanamo campaign if you want to make sure the prison is closed on time!

Human Rights First Gives Obama a B, overall, in Foreign Policy

Human Rights First's Communications Director Sharon Kelly contributed to a Foreign Policy piece that collected grades for President Obama's performance over a range of issues. Below is her excerpt from the article.

Grade: B

On interrogation policy: A.

President Barack Obama took swift and decisive action by shutting down the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program and mothballing secret prisons on his second full day in office. In August, his Task Force on Interrogations seconded that strong step by deciding that the Army interrogation manual should be the single standard for all agencies of the U.S. government.
These actions allowed the United Sates to begin to rebuild the respect that is so essential to successfully meeting the complex challenges that we as a nation face. Achieving energy security, protecting the environment, combating global terrorism, quelling insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq -- these are all issues that require collaboration with allies and a strategy to win goodwill around the world. As Gen. Charles Krulak and Gen. Joseph Hoar -- commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999 and commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994, respectively -- recently wrote: "If Americans torture and it comes to light -- as it inevitably will -- it embitters and alienates the very people we need most."

An A on interrogation is important for the whole report card.

On Guantánamo: B or incomplete.

Obama was off to a strong start when he announced last January that Guantánamo Bay's prison would close within a year. The administration has less than three months to go and Members of Congress and the public are still anxiously awaiting a plan specifying what will happen to the detainees housed there.

In its defense, the administration inherited a real mess and has since confronted a concerted campaign of fear mongering led by former Vice President Dick Cheney. In the face of real logistical issues and made-up scare tactics, Obama's recent comments at the United Nations reaffirming his commitment to swiftly close the facility were encouraging.

There's no reason for delay. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Gen. David Petraeus, and other experts have stated that Guantánamo's existence has undermined our national security interests. The most comprehensive study of terrorism cases prosecuted in U.S. courts demonstrates that our justice system is up to the job of prosecuting these complex cases -- at least 195 terrorists have been convicted since the September 11 attacks. The American Correctional Association has declared that Americans have nothing to fear from terrorists incarcerated in U.S. prisons.

If the administration's plan puts faith in our strong institutions, this grade could be raised to an A. Opting for unlimited detention without charge would undermine the progress made so far.

On Afghanistan: B- or incomplete.

More needs to be done to guarantee that -- when United States forces pick up someone in Afghanistan and detain him as a possible security threat -- there are mechanisms in place to challenge that detention. Until this happens, U.S. detention policies will be at odds with its counterinsurgency goals in Afghanistan: we'll be spending money on schools and roads to win over the population and then undermining our investment by holding people unfairly.

The Obama administration has made some improvements. In September, the Pentagon announced new procedures for the 600 detainees being held in Bagram and Gen. Stanley McChrystal unveiled reforms for both U.S. and Afghan prisons that focus on rehabilitation and skills training aimed at preventing the radicalization of prisoners. He announced that the "desired endstate" for all detention operations -- including Bagram -- would be the transfer of those responsibilities to the Afghan government once it has the capacity to run these systems in accordance with international and national law.

The devil is in the details. Even under the new procedures, which are similar to the discredited combatant status review tribunals in Guantánamo, there are concerns about detainees' ability to review and challenge the evidence against them and produce their own evidence, including witnesses, without the assistance of legal representation. Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether the reforms will resolve the underlying problems of arbitrary and indefinite detention. More can be done to prevent mistaken captures, gather evidence during capture (to promote fair criminal prosecutions in Afghan courts) and increase the capacity of the Afghan authorities to take responsibility for detention and prosecution.

The Defense Authorization Act, and Military Commissions vs. Federal Courts

A Washington Independent article discussing the consequences of the Defense Authorization Act passed Wednesday, and the continued use of military commissions. It rightly compares the track record of our federal courts vs. military commissions, in prosecuting terrorism cases, citing Human Rights First In Pursuit of Justice reports:

A study conducted by former prosecutors for Human Rights First, for example, found that civilian federal courts had successfully prosecuted more than 214 terrorism cases since September 11, 2001. Prosecutors won 195 convictions, and successfully handled the challenges of unavailable witnesses, classified evidence, undercover informants and other complexities that arise in terrorism cases, the report found. By contrast, the military commissions created by President Bush after the 9/11 attacks and subsequently authorized by Congress tried only three cases.

We should use our federal courts. Join our Guantanamo campaign to get more involved.

Obama Signs the Hate Crime Bill into Law! What's Next?

By Paul LeGendre, cross-posted from Huffington Post

Ten years ago this month, Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard was brutally attacked and murdered because he was gay. A year before Matthew's murder, James Byrd. Jr. was kidnapped, beaten, and stripped naked by three white supremacists, who chained him by the ankles to a pickup truck and dragged his body for three miles. These tragedies reawakened American consciousness about hate crime and sparked debate far beyond U.S. borders.

Today, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, critical legislation that strengthens existing U.S. laws by extending federal hate crime protection in cases where the victim was targeted because of their sexual orientation, gender, disability, or gender identity. The new law -- which the U.S. Attorney General Holder called a "civil rights issue that is clearly a priority" -- will also permit federal authorities to assist local governments in hate crime investigations and increase their capacity through training programs.

This much-needed step to enhance the government's response to hate crime at home will play an important role in enhancing US leadership on combating hate violence globally. This is already happening.

Secretary of State Clinton recently underlined the importance of combating hate crime, at the launch of the State Department's 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom by proclaiming that the best antidote to religious intolerance is "a combination of robust legal protections against discrimination and hate crimes, proactive government outreach to minority religious groups, and the vigorous defense of both freedom of religion and expression."

Together, President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and other members of the administration must be prepared to carry and promote this message overseas, in countries where governments are not responding adequately to violence motivated by religious intolerance, racism and xenophobia, sexual orientation and gender identity bias, or other similar manifestations of intolerance. In many parts of the world, governments are failing to take hate violence seriously by bringing the perpetrators to justice.

As the United States begins the work of enacting this important new bill, Human Rights First is encouraging the government to also demonstrate continued international leadership in multilateral organizations, advocate measures to combat hate crime in bilateral relationships, and expand efforts to support civil society organizations, by taking the following steps:

-Raising violent hate crime issues with representatives of foreign governments and encouraging, where appropriate, legal and other policy responses, including those contained in Human Rights First's ten-point plan for governments to combat violent hate crime. Talking Helps!

-Offer appropriate technical assistance and other forms of cooperation, including training of police and prosecutors in investigating, recording, reporting and prosecuting violent hate crimes as well as translation of Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) materials on hate crimes. Peer tutoring works!

-Ensuring that groups working to combat all forms of violent hate crime have access to support under existing U.S. funding programs, including the Human Rights and Democracy Fund and programs for human rights defenders. Money is needed!

-Maintain strong and inclusive State Department monitoring and public reporting on racist, antisemitic, xenophobic, anti-Muslim, homophobic, anti-Roma and other bias-motivated violence -- including by consulting with civil society groups as well as providing appropriate training for human rights officers and other relevant mission staff abroad. Reporting matters!

Today is a day to welcome the president's signing the Hate Crime Prevention Act into law and to congratulate all those who worked for more than a decade to make this happen. It is also an important moment to recall the global nature of hate violence. While not losing sight of the challenges at home, we call on the U.S. to enhance its global leadership role by working to ensure that hate violence is met with a vigorous response everywhere.