Latest Wikileaks Disclosures Prove Guantanamo Was Failed Experiment

Experts available to address documents, fall-out Washington, DC – In the wake of Wikileaks’ release of documents detailing previously unknown details about hundreds of detainees held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights First said the disclosures underscore the need to close the facility and abandon questionable practices that do not properly distinguish terrorists from innocent individuals. Human Rights First’s Dixon Osburn notes, “The Wikileaks documents on Guantanamo reveal a system plagued with unreliable assessments of the dangerousness of the men being held there and confirm that Guantanamo was a failed experiment. With more than 200 years of experience sifting through evidence to determine guilt and an unparalleled track record in handling complex terrorism cases, our federal courts have always been and remain the best solution to this problem. Congress should move to ensure that a bad situation is not made permanent by removing the restrictions on prosecutions of those charged with crimes and paving the way for release of those who are innocent.” As coverage of these documents continues and additional information related to torture, detentions and other national security matters is examined, Human Rights First has the following individuals available for interview: Dixon Osburn is Director of Human Rights First’s Law and Security Program. In that role, he advocates for U.S. counterterrorism and national security policies that respect the rule of law and human rights. Osburn has an extensive background in legal and policy advocacy and has monitored House and Senate hearings focused on domestic terrorism and observed proceedings at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Since 2004, the Law and Security Program has worked with interrogators, military leaders and other national security experts to restore U.S. leadership on human rights and mitigate national security threats. Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.) served in the U. S. Navy from 1973 to 2000. He was the Navy’s Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000. Admiral Hutson now serves as President and Dean of the University of New Hampshire School of Law in Concord, New Hampshire. He also joined Human Rights First’s Board of Directors in 2005. Joe Navarro spent 25 years working as an FBI special agent in the area of counterintelligence and behavioral assessment and is a founding member of the National Security Division’s Behavioral Analysis Program. Navarro authored the book that the FBI uses to train advanced interrogators. He is author of a number of books about interviewing techniques and practice including Advanced Interviewing, which he co-wrote with Jack Schafer, and Hunting Terrorists: A Look at the Psycopathology of Terror.