Human Rights First has released a timely policy paper rejecting recent proposals to create systems of indefinite detention without criminal charge and special courts to try terrorism detainees, and describing the danger of such proposals to both U.S. counterinsurgency strategy and the American justice system. "The Case Against A Special Terrorism Court" recommends that terrorism detainees be tried in the time-tested federal court system, which the HRF report, In Pursuit of Justice, revealed to have successfully prosecuted over 100 terrorism cases since September 11. The policy paper's release follows the Obama Administration's recent decision to uphold the policy of indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay using its own rationale, which HRF analyzed in a recent Jurist posting.

Read "The Case Against A Special Terrorism Court"

On March 20, Human Rights First and the Constitution Project jointly hosted a panel discussion on national security court proposals and "Bringing Detainees to Justice and Justice To Detainees" at Georgetown Law School. Panelists included HRF International Legal Director Gabor Rona, former terrorism prosecutor David Laufman, national security expert Deborah Pearlstein, former Defense Department official for Detainee Affairs Matthew Waxman, and moderator Stephen Vladeck.

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As former Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Ghailani arrived in New York to appear in a New York federal court, HRF CEO Elisa Massimino testified before a Congressional Committee on why preventive detention is a bad idea and the Department of Justice cited our comprehensive research in an official press release.

Read the testimony

Read the DoJ press release

Read more about prosecuting terrorism suspects

Excerpts from a secret ICRC document were made public on March 15 by Mark Danner in the New York Review of Books, revealing interrogation techniques amounting to torture. Human Rights First advocates the establishment of an independent nonpartisan commission to investigate interrogation and detention policies under the Bush administration.

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Read HRF's blueprint How to End Torture and Cruel Treatment

Read HRF's materials to the Senate Judiciary Committee:

• HRF's statement for the record
• Retired Vice Admiral Gunn's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee

The Obama administration's recent District Court filing regarding Guantanamo detainees withdraws the definition of "enemy combatant" employed by the Bush administration, but replaces it with a new standard lacking significant change.

Read Press Release

Read Attorney General Holder's Declaration

Read U.S. District Court filing

Read HRF's legal analysis posted on Jurist

Detainees at the Bagram prison in Afghanistan have fewer legal protections and processes than those of current Guantánamo detainees. The Obama administration recently upheld the position of the Bush administration that the 600 plus detainees, who have been held without charges or access to lawyers for several years, are not entitled to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. HRF published a groundbreaking report in April 2008 exposing the unfair Afghan trial proceedings for those detainees transferred from Guantánamo and Bagram to the U.S. built Afghan National Defense Facility in Pul-i-Charkhi prison in Afghanistan. Senior Associate Sahr MuhammedAlly recently provided recommendations to prevent Bagram from becoming the next Guantánamo in a Jurist posting.

Read Jurist article: "Obama must not allow Bagram prison to remain an Afghan version of Guantanamo"

Read HRF report: Arbitrary Justice: Trials of Bagram and Guantánamo Detainees in Afghanistan

HRF submitted a statement for the record to the Senate Judiciary Committee calling for the establishment of an independent commission to examine post-9/11 abuses, including abusive detention and interrogation practices, and their consequences for national security. The Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on "Getting to the Truth through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry" to consider the proposal. HRF called for the establishment of a nonpartisan commission in the blueprint How to End Torture and Cruel Treatment.

Read the press release

Read the statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee

Read the blueprint How to End Torture and Cruel Treatment

HRF joined a former FBI director, an Army general who investigated detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib, a former Under Secretary of State, the President of the International Center for Transitional Justice, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, and other leading NGOs to urge President Obama to appoint a non-partisan commission to investigate the policies, practices, and consequences of post-9/11 detainee treatment, detention and transfer and to make recommendations to renew the U.S. commitment to human rights and international law.

Read the Joint Press Release

Read the Statement

"For some rule-of-law fans the toasting is over and it's already the morning after. The new administration's recent decision to continue the Bush line that torture victims' claims should be dismissed in order to preserve unspecified "state secrets" was a shocker. But that's small change compared to what's on the horizon."

Read Jurist article by HRF International Legal Director, Gabor Rona.

HRF delivered a letter to both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees strongly encouraging them to pass the State Secret Protection Act of 2009, introduced in the House with bipartisan support. The legislation would allow an independent judicial review of government claims to ensure that the state secrets privilege is used to protect sensitive national security information and not to block disclosure of government misconduct.

Read the Press Release

Read the Letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees

"By suspending the military commissions, the Obama Administration begins the task of denying to those who would harm Americans the best recruiting tool the Bush Administration ever gave them -- Guantanamo," says Gabor Rona, International Legal Director of Human Rights First. "President Obama's action sends a message that even one more day of proceedings in violation of American and international law should not occur on his watch. With that message, he takes an important first step toward closing Guantanamo and rehabilitating the reputation of the United States as a standard-bearer for justice, human rights and the rule of law."

Read HRF's blueprint on How to Close Guantanamo.

Gabor Rona, HRF's International Legal Director, is in Guantanamo to observe pretrial hearings for Omar Khadr and the September 11 defendants. Read Gabor's observations on the Guantanamo blog.

Read HRF's joint letter to President Obama urging him to suspend the military commissions and take swift action in the case of Omar Khadr.

Read HRF's joint amicus brief opposing a court order greatly expanding the definition of ''classified information" in the case of the alleged 9/11 conspirators.

HRF joined other Guantanamo observers in filing a friend-of-the-court brief opposing a court order greatly expanding the definition of ''classified information" in the military commissions case of alleged 9/11 conspirators.

Read Press Release

Read Amicus Brief

Read Amicus Brief Appendix

HRF Advocacy Counsel Devon Chaffee is in Guantanamo to observe pretrial hearings for the five September 11 defendants. Read Devon's observations on the Guantanamo blog.

Both parties' presidential candidates have rejected the use of torture and agree that America's reputation has been damaged by the Bush Administration's policies authorizing abuse of prisoners. Human Rights First offers a step-by-step plan for the next president to end torture and official cruelty and to invest in effective and humane intelligence gathering.

Read the Blueprint

Read the Press Release

Read the Press Release

HRF consultant Anthony Barkow is in Guantánamo to monitor pretrial hearings for five defendants charged with crimes related to the September 11 terrorist attacks.  Read Anthony’s observations on the Guantánamo blog.

Read Testimony

Read Press Release

With both parties’ presumptive presidential nominees in agreement about the need to close Guantanamo, Human Rights First offers a step-by-step plan that minimizes risk and ensures federal court prosecutions.

Read the Blueprint

Read the Press Release

International Legal Director Gabor Rona recently returned from Guantánamo to monitor individual pre-trial hearings of the five September 11 defendants. Read Gabor’s description of the extent to which detainees are prevented from participating in the legal process on the Huffington Post

"Can It Gitmo Bad Than This?"

HRF consultant Frank Kendall is in Guantánamo to observe the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan. Hamdan is the first detainee in six years whose case is scheduled to start trial, but a federal court is determining whether the trial can proceed before he is able to legally challenge his detention.  Read Frank’s observations on the Guantánamo blog.

On July 15, Human Rights First International Legal Director Gabor Rona testified before the U.S. Helsinki Commission in a hearing that addressed law and policy issues related to detention of suspected terrorists – particularly Guantanamo detainees — following the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Boumediene.

Read Testimony

Senior Associate Deborah Colson was in Guantánamo recently to monitor pre-trial hearings in the cases of two detainees, Omar Khadr and Mohammed Jawad, who were each brought to Guantánamo as juveniles and have alleged they were tortured.  Read about her observations on the Huffington Post. The hearings are the first to be held after the Supreme Court ruled that detainees have the right to challenge their detention in federal courts. Read the press statement on the Supreme Court decision here.

Terrorist Cases should be Tried in Federal Courts

Read the press statement here

Read Statement

Background on the CIA Secret Detention Program

Read the Report

Sharon Kelly, Elect to End Torture ’08 Campaign Manager, recently monitored the cases of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi and Mohammed Kamin. Proceedings were postponed in the case of Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi. Read Sharon’s observations on the Huffington Post.

Read More: The Overwhelming Opposition to the President's Torture Ban Veto

Read HRF Statement

15 Retired Flag and General Officers Meet with Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Huckabee, Obama, Richardson

Read Press Release

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