The first Guantanamo detainee to have been in CIA custody (a so-called high-value detainee, or HVD) pleaded guilty yesterday before a military commission judge in a courtroom on the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay. In exchange for a cap on his confinement related to his military commissions case, Majid Khan agreed to testify truthfully in future military commissions…
James Carafano discusses the latest batch of WikiLeaks.…
Cully Stimson discusses the potential closing of Guantanamo Bay.…
Cully Stimson discusses the 2-year anniversary of Obama's claim to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility within a year.…
Cully Stimson comments on former Guantanamo Bay detainees returning to terrorist organizations.…
On March 22, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ordered that Mohamedou Ould Slahi, one of the most dangerous terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay, be released. Although the Obama Administration has decided to appeal the decision, if the court’s order stands several issues will have to be addressed, including where Slahi will go, and, if no other country will…
Cully Stimson discusses the future of Guantanamo Bay and trials for its detainees.…
Cully Stimson discussing potential military tribunals for KSM and other Guantanamo Bay detainees.…
Cully Stimson discussing the rehabilitation of Guantanamo Bay detainees.…
Charles Stimson talks about transfering detainees from Guantanam Bay and having them return to the battlefield…
While billions are victim to the regular abuse and tyranny of governments such as those of Sudan and China, much of the world's media and non-profit "human rights" resources focus on the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Not a single person has been killed at the facility since it opened, and yet the drumbeat of criticism grows by the day. Criticism and even…
Congress is considering legislation to extend habeas corpus rights (i.e., the ability to challenge the legality of detention in a civil court) to unlawful enemy combatants. Granting terrorists rights to which they are not entitled will not make the world a safer place and will not win over America's enemies and critics.[1] Worst of all, it will make armed conflicts…
Introduction Americans have pretty much always felt entitled to make law for themselves. As Virginia royal governor Alexander Spotswood complained 60 years before the Declaration of Independence, "by their professions and actions they [the colonials] seem to allow no jurisdiction, civil or ecclesiastical, but what is established by laws of their own…
The assault on justice continues at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- and it has nothing to do with the trial of enemy combatants accused of war crimes. I recently joined about three dozen journalists and observers for the arraignment of Canadian suspect Omar Khadr. Khadr was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and is alleged to…
Last week the Supreme Court ruled that terrorist detainees held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in federal court. Commentators called the ruling a major blow to the Bush administration and looked to the White House for its next move. But any effort by this White House to roll back the Boumediene decision surely would fail,…
Revised September 20, 2007 Recent press reports detail an internal Bush Administration debate over whether to close the military detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Whether to close the facility is not at the heart of the issue of how the U.S. treats detainees and prosecutes the war on terrorism. Regardless of where detainees are held, the U.S.…
The day after the Pentagon announced it would be charging six of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay with crimes (including plotting the 9/11 strikes on Washington and New York), the congressional House leadership signaled again that it wants to push off legislation authorizing the terrorist surveillance program used to prevent future attacks. Even more frustrating,…
The Obama administration waited until 5:45 p.m. on a Friday in late June to float the idea that it is considering an executive order authorizing prolonged detention of captured enemy combatants. The announcement was timed to run when most Washingtonians were tippling cocktails or en route to the beach to avoid expending much political capital on the issue. This…
For more than 200 years, the reins of America's leadership have been peacefully handed over from one administration to another, regardless of party affiliation, in part because we have never seriously indulged in criminalizing our political differences. My Russian immigrant father, who fled Communist persecution, told me more than once that avoiding political…
Contents Introduction James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Chapter 1: Dispelling Misconceptions Steven Groves and Brian W. Walsh Chapter 2: The War on Terrorism: Habeas Corpus On and Off the Battlefield James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Chapter 3: Gitmo Debate Misses the Point James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Chapter 4: U.N. Rapporteur Scheinin Issues…
Human rights activists, liberal media outlets, and Bush Administration critics have derisively characterized the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the "gulag of our times,"[1] a "legal black hole,"[2] and a "stain on our nation's character."[3] One need not dig too deeply into the facts, however, to discover that the detainees held at…
Last month, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism visited the United States for the stated purpose of reviewing its counterterrorism practices for compliance with its treaty obligations, such as those in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention…
From time to time, the United Nations deploys human rights experts-called "special rapporteurs"-to the United States and elsewhere to report on alleged human rights abuses. Over the years, the United States has tolerated the presence of these special envoys to investigate human rights practices regarding various issues, such as the death penalty, freedom of religion,…
The United States has in its custody enemy combatants accused of serious war crimes. They should be brought to trial quickly under processes that both respect the rule of law and protect U.S. national security. For this to happen, Congress must sanction the trial procedure that the Administration will employ, but the Administration and the Senate Armed Services…
WikiLeaks, which has been sitting on an enormous cache of classified U.S. government documents, released another batch...…
Following Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement Monday that the United States would try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed...…
Bowing to political realities, the Obama administration reversed itself and announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM),...…
Yesterday Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama Justice Department would appeal a U.S. District Court...…
Following Barack Obama's inauguration last year, the newly-elected commander-in-chief sought to impose his vision of...…
Following his speech, Senator McConnell sat down with us In The Green Room, where he discussed how the Administration...…
Politico reported yesterday that “The second-ranking House Democrat signaled Tuesday that the White House is...…
Days before President Obama plans to present his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Osama Bin...…
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: “Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars.” So why did...…
Edwin Meese III, the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and...…