November 12, 2005
Sat Nov 12, 2005 at 04:56:40 PM PDT
Save Habeas Corpus Rights of Guantanamo Detainees
As you may know, many men who have spent years in detention at
Guantanamo Bay were sold to the U.S. military by bounty hunters.
More than a hundred detainees are on hunger strikes because of
the hopelessness of their situations.
There may be a second vote on the amendment the week of November 14.
Please contact your senators right now and urge them to support
any effort to remove the part of Senator Graham's amendment banning
Guantánamo prisoners from filing writs of habeas corpus in court.
Send a free fax to your senators: http://www.demaction.org/...
On
Thursday, November 10, the Senate voted 49-42 in favor of Senator
Lindsey Graham's amendment to the Defense spending bill. Five
Democrats -- Senators Joseph Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Kent
Conrad, and Ron Wyden -- voted with most Republicans in support.
Republicans who voted against it were Arlen Specter, John Sununu,
Lincoln Chafee, and Gordon Smith.
(For a list of how your senators voted: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/...)
If Senator Graham's amendment is attached to the final spending bill,
it would deny Guantanamo detainees their right to file habeas corpus
petitions. That right was upheld in 2004 by the U.S. Supreme
Court (Rasul v. Bush). The writ of habeas corpus is a basic legal
right recognized for centuries all over the world, which we must
preserve for detainees in U.S. custody, just as we would demand that
right for U.S. prisoners held by other countries.
Thanks for all you do.
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Web: www.bordc.org
Email: info@bordc.org
Phone: 413-582-0110
Fax: 413-582-0116
