Press Release

Will the U.S. authorize indefinite detention – without any possibility of judicial review – for anyone labeled an "enemy combatant"? Even if those people are actually innocent? Please take a moment to call your Senators first thing this morning at 202-224-3121, especially if they are on the Armed Services Committee (see the list at the bottom of this email), and send a fax through our website.

We’re in a brutal legislative fight over two bills proposed by President Bush and Senator Warner to legislate military commissions. However problematic the commissions are, they’re a distraction from the really dangerous provisions that would strip detainees of their right to challenge the legality of their detention. The bottom line is, if either bill passes as currently written, it would prevent anyone taken into U.S. custody – anywhere in the world, past, present or future, innocent or not – from ever having their case heard. This goes against every principle this country was founded on.

Every person detained by our nation must receive a fair hearing. After all, wouldn’t we demand that right for our soldiers and civilians if they were captured by our enemies abroad?

We need your help urgently in order to stop this legislation!

Last week the President admitted to detaining men in secret CIA facilities and transferred 14 of them to Guantánamo: since it has become embarrassingly clear from the military’s own documents that most of the men at Guantánamo have nothing to do with terrorism and were often given over to the U.S. for bounty when they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Administration’s strategy was to move a handful of actual high-level detainees there so they could push through this legislation.

Here are some talking points for your calls. The military commissions bill pending in Congress would:

... authorize the lifelong detention of more than 400 men imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay – men who have never been charged with a crime or received a fair hearing – many of whom our military admits never took up arms against the U.S.

... give President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld absolute discretion to lock up farmers and humanitarian aid workers for life – based on their exclusive determination that these men are “enemy combatants” – and subject these men to whatever treatment they themselves deem appropriate and legal.

... prevent any accountability for torture or abuse of detainees, rendering the McCain Amendment prohibiting torture unenforceable.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS IMMEDIATELY. Tell them that the American people will not tolerate indefinite detention in our name – at Guantánamo or anywhere else in the world. Tell them that executive detention must be subject to judicial review. No military commission bill should limit the most fundamental of all rights – habeas corpus.

Thank you for all your help.

Sincerely,

Vincent Warren
Executive Director

For more information, visit our website at www.ccr-ny.org.

Please make a donation and help us stay on the frontlines.

Keep up to date by viewing CCR's event calender.

To call your Senator, dial (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senator's office. Please keep your call brief and to the point. Identify yourself as a constituent (and a donor if you have donated money in the past), and ask to speak with the aide who deals with issues such as the military commissions bill. After identifying yourself, tell the aide what you think of the bills. Finally, ask for your Senators' position on the issue.

The Senate Armed Services Committee:


The Senate Armed Services Committee:

John Warner (R – VA) (202) 224-2023
John McCain (R – AZ) (202) 224-2235
James Inhofe (R – OK) (202) 224-4721
Pat Roberts (R – KS) (202) 224-4774
Jeff Sessions (R- AL) (202) 224-4124
Susan Collins (R – ME) (202) 224-2523
John Ensign (R – NV) (202) 224-6244
James Talent (R – MO) (202) 224-6154
Saxby Chambliss (R – GA) (202) 224-3521
Lindsey Graham (R – SC) (202) 224-5972
Elizabeth Dole (R – NC) (202) 224-6342
John Cornyn (R – TX) (202) 224-2934
John Thune (R – SD) (202) 224-2321
Carl Levin (D – MI) (202) 224-6221
Edward Kennedy (D – MA) (202) 224-4543
Robert Byrd (D – WV) (202) 224-3954
Joe Lieberman (D – CT) (202) 224-4041
Jack Reed (D – RI) (202) 224-4642
Daniel Akaka (D – HI) (202) 224-6361
Bill Nelson (D – FL) (202) 224-5274
Benjamin Nelson (D – NE) (202) 224-6551
Mark Dayton (D – MN) (202) 224-3244
Evan Bayh (D – IN) (202) 224-5623
Hillary Clinton (D – NY) (202) 224-4451

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