HRF's Coalition of Military Leaders

In 2004, Human Rights First began organizing and working with a coalition of retired senior military leaders willing to speak out in favor of humane treatment for prisoners. Since then Human Rights First has coordinated advocacy efforts on the campaign trail, with Congress, the public, and the media. Members of this coalition are now key advisors to the Obama Administration. Just days after the inauguration, they were standing behind President Obama as he signed the executive orders that call for an end to torture and secret prisons, as well as the closure of Guantánamo within one year.

President Obama, as he signed the first executive order, explained who they were and how they have influenced him:

"The individuals who are standing behind me represent flag officers who came to both Joe and myself, and all the candidates, and made a passionate plea that we restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great, even in the midst of war, even in dealing with terrorism. They've made an extraordinary impression on me. They are outstanding Americans, who have fought and defended this country, and for them to fight on behalf of our constitutional ideals and values, I think, is exceptional, so I wanted to make sure that they were here to witness the signing of this executive order."

As the President mentions, in December 2007, Human Rights First hosted a series of meetings in Des Moines, Iowa, during which seven presidential candidates from both parties (including Obama and Biden) met with fifteen retired military leaders. Members of the group also traveled to key states in the presidential campaign to ensure that prisoner treatment issues would be a focus of the next President.

In December 2008, during the transition, HRF convened a group of retired generals and admirals to discuss interrogation and detention policies with some of the President-elect's top legal advisors, including now Attorney General Eric Holder and White House Counsel Greg Craig. In his confirmation hearing, Attorney General Holder spoke firmly against the use of torture.

With these executive orders, we now see a willful departure from the Bush Administration's polices of torture, unjust trials, and prolonged detention without criminal charge. This group will now focus on helping make change happen.

Read the Executive Orders: on Guantanamo, detention policy, interrogation policy, and the al-Marri case

Read more about HRF's We Can End Torture Now campaign

Press Materials:

Press release and the military leaders' statement

HRF's press conference:

Download our press conference (MP3) | Read the transcript (PDF)

Significant press coverage:

• New York Times article announcing the orders
• The story of the coalition in the New York Times and the Salt Lake Tribune
• White House Counsel Greg Craig discusses the role that meetings with these retired military leaders had in correcting key interrogation and detention policies, in the New Yorker
• A round-up of significant quotes on an HRF blog

Watch the signing, Major General Paul Eaton on Countdown with Keith Olbermann