Saturday, October 3, 2009

Letter to U.S. Senators and Reps Regarding Guantanamo Bay

October 2, 2009

To: Senator Patty Murray
Senator Maria Cantwell
Congressman Jay Inslee
Congressman Rick Larsen
Congressman Jim McDermott

The Washington State Religious Campaign Against Torture was founded on a commitment to the equal dignity of all human beings, a principle enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We write to protest the grave and continuing violation of human rights in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, and other prisons run by the U.S. government.

Over two hundred persons remain imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. Many have been held for over seven years. Many have been subjected to harrowing ill-treatment, including torture. Only a small handful have ever been charged with a crime. Human rights organizations believe that many, and perhaps most, are innocent of any involvement with terrorism. Some remain imprisoned even though both the Bush and Obama administrations ceased to classify them as enemy combatants.

Now there are signs that the "Guantanamo model" is being exported elsewhere. The Obama administration is seeking to deny the right of habeas corpus review to individuals sent to Afghanistan from overseas locations. The administration is also crafting policies that would subject some individuals to indefinite detention without charge or trial and would authorize prosecution of others before military commissions lacking the procedural protections of civilian trials or military courts martial. The avowed purpose of the military commissions is to facilitate guilty convictions by revoking long-honored rights of the accused.

We deplore the attack on fundamental rights that as far back as the Magna Carta have been recognized as essential to a civilized legal order. The attack is as unnecessary as it is wrong. Our civilian court system has repeatedly shown itself capable of convicting genuine terrorists and placing them behind bars. Our government’s policies must be constrained by justice and not dictated by an unreasoning and indiscriminate fear.

We must also be mindful of the precedent we set by our actions. If the United States subjects foreign citizens to rigged trials and indefinite detention without trial, it will be unable to complain when foreign governments apply equivalent measures to U.S. citizens. But more fundamentally, our stance is based on moral principles, the principles of basic human rights due every human person.

We urge you to speak out and take action in support of the following principles:

1. Reputable human rights organizations must be granted access to prisoners in the custody of the United States, in order to monitor their conditions of confinement.


2. The United States must guarantee humane treatment to all prisoners, as required by domestic and international laws. No prisoners may be subjected to forced feeding.


3. The United States must release all prisoners not classified as enemy combatants. If the prisoners face a serious threat of persecution in their home countries, and if safe haven is not provided in third countries, they must be granted free asylum in the United States, without delay.


4. The United States must provide any prisoners accused of a criminal offense with a speedy trial affording due process protections equivalent to those of our regular civilian and military courts. No prisoner may be convicted unless he has been granted the opportunity of a full defense and his guilt is proved beyond a reasonable doubt.


5. The United States must release all Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and prisoners sent to Afghanistan from other countries, who are not charged with a genuine criminal offense, or who are acquitted following trial. (See point 4 for the minimum elements of a fair trial.) If such individuals face a serious threat of persecution in their home countries, and if safe haven is not provided in third countries, they must be granted free asylum in the United States, without delay.


6. Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and those sent to Afghanistan from other countries must enjoy the right to effective legal representation.


7. All prisoners held by the United States in Afghanistan after being sent from other countries must be granted the right to habeas corpus review in U.S. federal court.


8. Individuals captured in Afghanistan and held there as combatants have the right to challenge their imprisonment on a periodic basis before a fair and impartial tribunal.


9. Victims of human rights abuses including torture, ill-treatment, and illegal imprisonment must have the right to sue those responsible. Civil remedies must not be blocked by sweeping appeals to state secrecy.

These actions constitute elementary requirements of human rights. They are required by our constitutional values and our international legal commitments. They are necessary for ensuring that U.S. citizens will be treated fairly and humanely in the future. They do not compromise, but on the contrary enhance, our national safety.


We would like to hear from you what you think should be done to restore due process and transparency, and to protect the rights of prisoners in U.S. custody. We would welcome an opportunity to discuss how we can work together to accomplish these goals. Please let us know how we can arrange a meeting to further this discussion.


Sincerely,

Robert Crawford, Facilitator

Washington State Religious Campaign Against Torture


cc: President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr.

Robert Crawford, Facilitator, 17904 Westside Hwy, SW, Vashon, WA 98070

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