How Congress plans to block fair trials
Two things you can do to fight back against torture and injustice in the failed Guantánamo experiment:
- Urge your members of Congress to support fair, federal trials on U.S. soil
- Next week (Feb 14-20) help us raise awareness about torture and justice in your community!
Njambi Good, Amnesty International
This week (Feb 7-13), two more Democrats backed a bill in Congress that would prevent any funds from being spent on prosecuting Guantánamo Bay suspects in U.S. federal court. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is leading the charge in the Senate for using the "kangaroo courts" known as military commissions - cooked up by him and other politicians at Guantánamo - to ensure convictions and cover up evidence of torture.
Everyone deserves a fair trial - don't let Congress obstruct justice for the 9/11 accused.
What Senator Graham and other dissenters have neglected to address is that our U.S. federal courts are responsible for successfully convicting at least 195 cases involving terrorism since the September 11th attacks. Their much-touted military courts - created by politicians, not the military - have only dealt with 3 such cases.
Why should we allow a system, riddled with so many flaws and so much inexperience, dictate the course of justice when it comes to international terrorism?
It's simple - we shouldn't. Urge your members of Congress to support fair, federal trials for Guantánamo detainees.
Just this past week (Jan 31-Feb 6), President Obama affirmed that he would not rule out bringing terror suspects, including self-proclaimed September 11th mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to justice on U.S. soil. But to keep this process moving, our elected officials need to know that the public supports fair and open trials.
Next week )Feb 14-20) we're pulling out all the stops so they know exactly where the public stands. Join us as we launch events - large and small - in cities and towns around the country to demonstrate to members of Congress and President Obama that they have our unrelenting support for closing Guantanamo and delivering accountability for torture.
Yes, I want to hold an event in my community to raise awareness about torture and justice!
If our elected officials haven't heard us by now, then by next week they will. Take action now to help us bring justice closer to home.
