Activists demonstrate against indefinite detention and unfair trials at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (Photo Credit: Shawn Duffy).
Angry. That’s how I felt when President Obama signed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, despite containing terrible provisions that run afoul of human rights standards and have been used to justify indefinite detention at Guantanamo.
Well, the NDAA is back in the House of Representatives this week and the bad Guantanamo provisions are in it again. Will you join me in demanding that Congress support the human rights of all people?
The choices are clear: each detainee must either be a) charged and fairly tried in federal court or b) released. This isn’t just about the detainees. The right to be free from arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial protects all of us from abuse.
Even though President Obama has once again re-affirmed his commitment to close Guantanamo, our work is far from over. We’ve heard this talk before – in fact, it was the President himself who made it more difficult to close the detention facility by signing last year’s NDAA into law.
The only way we’re ever going to truly end this terrible chapter of our history is by starting a new one that embraces human rights. It begins with a phone call to your elected official now.
Please place a call to your Representative then tell us how it went. Report back so the next time we meet with your elected official, we can amplify your voice and ensure that our message is being heard loud and clear.
The whole thing should be closed and that's it. The things going on there are terrible and a lot of people are suffering for no reason and they will never get these years back.
I feel exactly as you do and I did my part and made the phone call. I hope it made a small difference. I feel outraged.
Have to be firm & constant,,,Guantanamo should be close for good and at any price,