President Obama’s 2009 promise to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, infamous for its flagrant denial of human rights, was met with much support throughout the United States and the world.  Human rights advocates throughout the world felt justice would finally be served by transferring and releasing detainees from the Guantanamo detention facility.  Individuals within the U.S. hoped that Obama’s promise to close the facility would re-solidify the country’s position as the self-proclaimed exemplar of moral and ethical leadership.

Unfortunately, four years later, Guantanamo remains open, still imprisoning detainees who are held without charge, and without access to judge or lawyer.  In January of 2012, several retired generals and admirals drafted a letter to President Obama urging the transfer of Guantanamo detainees cleared by the Task Force, under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Security Waver.  They write:

We recognize the political opposition you have faced in attempting to honor your commitment. Congress has repeatedly restricted your ability to transfer detainees held there who have been cleared for release. Congress has also restricted your authority to bring criminal suspects held at Guantanamo to justice in our time-honored federal criminal courts. However, despite these restrictions, we are asking you to act within the discretion available to you to move our nation forward in closing Guantanamo once and for all.

Political opposition (particularly in the House of Representatives) has been one of the defining challenges of Obama’s presidency, and while it is a legitimate hurdle, it does not excuse Obama’s unfulfilled promise to close Guantanamo.  The President must be held accountable as well.

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This post was written by Nick Sibilla, a BORDC summer 2012 intern.

This Wednesday, March 27, the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-0 in favor of HB 522, which bans indefinite detention under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012 within the state of Montana.

Last month, the Montana state house voted 98-0 to prohibit state cooperation with federal officials who attempt to detain individuals within Montana under Sections 1021 or 1022 of the NDAA.  The bill now heads to the Senate floor for a full vote, which may occur as early as next week.

Supporters of the bill are very diverse, including the ACLU, the Tenth Amendment Center, Oath Keepers, and BORDC.  When the bill was heard in committee last week, no objections were raised.

Montana is just one of many jurisdictions that are rising up to counter the NDAA’s detention provisions. Bills aiming to restore Due Process have passed the state house in New Hampshire, as well as the state senates in Indiana, South Carolina, and Michigan, all by large margins.  Meanwhile, another dozen states are still considering restoring due process.

Most recently, Las Vegas passed a resolution condemning the NDAA.

Yesterday, activists gathered on the steps of San Francisco’s city hall to oppose the indefinite military detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and to support the introduction of a resolution by Supervisor and President of the Board David Chiu. The resolution of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will uphold due process and articulate San Francisco’s opposition of the NDAA. Supervisor Chiu stated that the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA:

violate our fundamental right to our presumption of innocence. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

In addition to Supervisor  Chiu and Supervisor Jane Kim, speakers at the rally, mc’ed by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee,  included community leaders from a broad range of organizations. Karen Korematsu, civil rights activist and daughter of Fred Korematsu, emphasized the need to learn from the mistakes of history, pointing out  the similarities between the potential for indefinite military detention without trial to the tragedy of internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.  Her father is known for refusing to submit to internment, being convicted for his refusal, and challenging his conviction in Korematsu v. United States. He eventually had his conviction overturned, and continued to fight for civil liberties, including supporting the Arab, Muslim, and South Asian community as they were targeted in the wake of 9/11. His legal team filed an amicus in Hedges v. Obama, a case challenging the NDAA that is currently in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Rachel Roberts, civil rights coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco, told the crowd about the fear the specter of detention has spurred in her clients in the Muslim community.  Joe Nicholson, of the San Francisco 99% Coalition, reminded the crowd that the Constitution has no meaning without  concerned Americans to support it.

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On Friday, February 4^th, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a declaration to officially make January 30th Fred Korematsu Day. For 40 years, Korematsu fought as the test case to stop the government’s unconstitutional internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Korematsu’s struggles included an appeal of a ruling that accounted for the detention of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent, at locations including the Central Utah War Relocation Center in Topaz, Millard County. Two-thirds of this group were US citizens.

Gov. Herbert acknowledged the bravery and perseverance of Korematsu, who died March 30, 2005. He was just 23 years old when Ernest Besig, director of the San Francisco office of the ACLU, visited him and helped him start the fight for his rights. At the event Gov. Herbert discussed the unconstitutionality that Korematsu faced:

The declaration was wrong, the conviction was wrong, and under our Constitution, it shouldn’t have happened…He continued to fight for 40 years, and finally in 1983 had it overturned. That requires more than just a declaration, and having a Fred Korematsu Day is the least of what we can do for his great courage.

The director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education, Ling Woo Liu, expanded on the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution bill in California. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this bill, designating January 30th as Fred Korematsu Day in California.

A Japanese-American activist who famously defied domestic military detention during  World War II, Fred T. Korematsu was a man who held our government accountable to uphold the human rights as a priority, not just an ideal.

One way to expand remembrance of his example is to propose BORDC’s model resolution to restore due process, which includes a provision based on the CA and UT resolutions, to your city council or state legislature.

Today, January 11, 2013 is the 11-year anniversary of Guantanamo Bay detention center’s opening and also the day that a vast coalition of groups will unite to uphold human rights and to protest President Obama’s inaction.

President Obama ordered that Guantanamo prison should be closed within one year. That order was nearly four years ago, yet Guantanamo remains open with one hundred sixty six detainees. Although many detainees have been cleared for transfer from the center by the Obama administration, they continue to be denied justice. As President Obama enters his second term, he has not only ignored his promise, but has made it harder for detainees to be transferred by signing the National Defense Authorization Act’s provisions about Guantanamo.

Amnesty International is holding an event in Washington D.C. where one hundred sixty six individuals dressed in orange jumpsuits will meet at Noon to march from the Supreme Court to the White House. There is also the option to stream the demonstration live on Amnesty International’s website. Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace is holding a silent vigil at 10am and rally at 10:45am at Downtown Los Angeles Federal building. These demonstrations are just some of many that will be taking place throughout the United States.

Shahid Buttar, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, explains why the closing of Guantanamo is a concern for every American:

January 11 offers a sad reminder of our country’s flagrant disregard for justice — not only for Guantanamo detainees, but also for 300 million Americans subjected to separate systems of law here within the US. Our country loudly claims to be the land of the free, yet conducts pervasive domestic surveillance and imprisons more people than any other country on the planet. Meanwhile, torturers have escaped even mere investigation, and even draw lifetime paychecks on the federal bench! Justice, national security (which suffered due to torture), and the law all require prosecuting US human rights abuses to make sure they never happen again. With the NDAA offering our military the power to detain anyone without proof of crime, every American has a personal stake in this struggle.

These demonstrations demand that Guantanamo be closed, indefinite detention should be removed from the National Defense Authorization Act, and all detained individuals should be prosecuted fairly or released. The only way to gain accountability from the government and to stop torture and other abuses is to demand it.

The promise that the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba would be closed is continuing to remain just a promise.

President Obama signed a defense bill on January 2^nd that stresses stronger restrictions on the movement and transfer of detainees out of the center. The administration claimed he would veto the National Defense Authorization Act, but signed the bill into law anyway. The new defense legislation bans the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States for any reason. This new ban includes barring detainees from entering the United States even to merely attend trials in federal court.

The defense secretary also has a new set of guidelines and conditions that must be met before detainees can be returned to his or her country or a third party country.

The transfer process can only begin again with the Pentagon’s certification that is now required by Congress. However, this is unlikely to happen because of the political backlash that would be received. These new provisions continue to halt the justice system and detain individuals for unwarranted amounts of time. Eleven years is long enough to see that Guantanamo’s existence is destroying the way in which justice is enacted in the United States and tarnishing the importance of human rights.

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• 1/4, Daphne Eviatar, Reuters, The secrecy veiling Obama’s drone war
• 1/3, Daniel Byman & Benjamin Wittes, The Atlantic, How Obama Decides Your Fate If He Thinks You’re a Terrorist
• 1/3, Matt Sledge and Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post, NDAA Signed Into Law By Obama Despite Guantanamo Veto Threat, Indefinite Detention Provisions
• 1/3, Charlie Savage, New York Times, Obama Disputes Limits on Detainee Transfers Imposed in Defense Bill
• 1/3, Peter Finn, Washington Post, Defense bill’s Guantanamo Bay provisions have human rights groups upset with Obama
• 1/3, Dave Boyer, Washington Times, Obama signs defense measure he once vowed to veto

• 1/3, Benjamin Wittes, Lawfare, President Obama Signs the NDAA 2013
• 1/3, Editor, RT, FBI classified information about OWS assassination plot
• 1/3, Marjan Asi, Press TV, Warrantless Wiretapping Law signed by Obama
• 1/3, Josh Gerstein, Politico, Obama signs defense bill, notes regrets
• 1/2, John W. Whitehead, Rutherford Institute, Government Violence: The Missing Link in the Gun Control Debate
• 1/2, Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, Intelligence Oversight Steps Back from Public Accountability

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee recently coordinated the filing of three amicus (friend of the court) briefs in Hedges v. Obama, a lawsuit in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals challenging domestic military detention under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012.

The suit was brought by journalists and activists concerned about being subjected to indefinite military detention if they interview subjects hostile to the US, and secured a permanent injunction earlier this year from Judge Katherine Forrest of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The briefs coordinated by BORDC support the position of the plaintiffs and provide additional arguments to inform the court’s decision. One brief was filed on behalf of BORDC, arguing that when the government has previously used military domestic detention it has taken extreme steps to evade the oversight of the federal courts, and thus it is now especially important for the Second Circuit to decide the constitutionality of the NDAA, so that the government does not later avoid the courts’ oversight.

The other briefs were filed on behalf of the Government Accountability Project, which defends whistleblowers, and the the Korematsu Center, which seeks to combat discrimination and to support communities in advocating for themselves. Both of these briefs were recently highlighted by the Huffington Post, in an article that also points out “7 Ways to Get Yourself Indefinitely Detained.”

Oral argument in the case is anticipated to be before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City in January. Updates can be found on BORDC’s blog and at StopNDAA.org. You can also find others organizing across the country against the NDAA on BORDC’s national map of anti-NDAA movements. Read more about each brief after the jump.

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• 12/7, Michael Price, The Hill, Senate to DHS: No tanks, thanks
• 12/7, Joe Kemp, Daily News (NY), Two high-ranking NYPD officials, including the department’s top lawyer, have quietly retired
• 12/6, Steve Watson, InfoWars.com, New Documents Show Military Is Flying Drones Throughout US
• 12/6, Mark Hosenball, Reuters, Senators to vote on probe of CIA interrogation program
• 12/6, Editor, Washington Times, Texting away your freedom
• 12/6, Kevin Underhill, Forbes, Michigan Takes a Stand Against NDAA Indefinite Detention Provisions