Protecting America Post-Guantanamo

A Common Sense Plan for Prosecuting Terrorists, Promoting National Security and Preserving our Values

As President Obama's deadline to close Guantanamo approaches, opponents of reform are striking back, often with distortions and manipulations of reality. Not without success: public opinion is lagging and Congress has passed legislation prohibiting the transfer of any Guantanamo detainees to the United States.

Human Rights First and our allies are fighting back. Our "Protecting America Post-Guantanamo" campaign aims to set the record straight and encourage further progress in national security policies – including Guantanamo but also questions of torture and prisoner abuse that are also under attack.

Our specific goals are clear:

• close Guantanamo on schedule;
• use federal courts, not military commissions, to prosecute accused terrorists; and
• prohibit forever the practice of indefinite detention without charges.

Human Rights First is working with prestigious national security leaders – including retired admirals and generals, former prosecutors and corrections officials – to spread the message that defending national security and protecting American values is not contradictory. They're two sides of the same coin.

Read more about our work with military leaders against torture and Guantanamo

Read more on military commissions

Read more about our monitoring of hearings at Guantanamo

Read more about prosecuting terrorism in federal courts