Peter Margulies, of Roger Williams School of Law, writes in with these comments on law, ethics, and the hunger strike ongoing at Guantanamo:
The hunger strike at Guantanamo has put bioethics on the frontlines of lawfare. The government’s critics, including
Ben quotes from this morning’s Washington Post editorial on AUMF reform, the last two sentences of which assert that “Countering the jihadists with intelligence and law enforcement tools manifestly failed before Sept. 11, 2001. Congress would be wise to … Read more »
For those who’d prefer the shorter version of Jen Daskal and my draft paper on life “After the AUMF,” we’ve got a short op-ed out in today’s New York Times with a far less alliterative title: “Don’t … Read more »
Lawyers for Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, a Yemeni detained at Guantanamo, yesterday petitioned the D.C. Circuit for a writ of mandamus. The gist: Abdullah wants the circuit court to force the district court decide a long-pending motion of his.… Read more »
In advance of Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), Jen Daskal and I have expanded upon our exchanges with Bobby, Jack, Matt, and Ben in a new (draft) working … Read more »
As Andrew Rosenthal noted in yesterday’s New York Times, things seem to be heating up in Congress with respect to whether–and to what extent–the September 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) needs to be updated, repealed, and/or … Read more »
Earlier today, former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh gave a talk at the Oxford Union, entitled “How to End the Forever War?” His remarks begin as follows:
Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Union, for inviting me
We’ve written a fair amount already about Chief Judge Lamberth’s September 2012 decision regarding the Guantánamo detainees’ continuing right of access to counsel (not to mention his March 2013 decision criticizing the government for its foot-dragging in declassifying various filings … Read more »
In March, Obaydullah, a Guantanamo detainee, signed this declaration. It evidently was intended for filing in federal court—in connection with the Al-Madhwani emergency motion—but ultimately wasn’t filed, for timing reasons.
The document was made available this week, and … Read more »
What is happening in Mali to people who are captured rather than killed by French, Chadian, or Malian forces? I asked this in February, but so far as I know the question remains unanswered in the public record.
Part of … Read more »
Speaking of a strange meeting of the minds over the President’s press conference remarks, Dana Milbank and Maureen Dowd had basically the same reaction to President Obama’s tetchy press conference yesterday: stop whining about Congress, stop complaining about how hard … Read more »
I had an odd meeting of the minds today—with Glenn Greenwald.
After I posted my bewildered comments on President Obama’s Guantanamo remarks this afternoon, I received the following email from Greenwald:
So glad you wrote this—it’s been driving
I confess myself mystified by President Obama’s comments about Guantanamo this morning. Here is what the President said—with the parts I find confusing bolded:
QUESTION: Mr. President, as you’re probably aware, there’s a growing hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay
Earlier this morning, President Obama conducted a news conference. The questions touched on, among other things, the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and the detainees’ ongoing hunger strike there.
The President strongly reiterated his desire to shutter … Read more »
I was away when the New York Times ran its latest editorial related to national security legal issues, so I’m afraid I did not fly-speck “The Guantanamo Stain” for factual errors. No matter. It doesn’t really contain many … Read more »
So we learn from this order, handed down yesterday, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
In a letter filed after the Hedges oral argument, attorneys for the government had cited the Supreme Court’s Clapper … Read more »
Ben Fox of the Associated Press has a particularly good account of the situation at Guantanamo. Because it was posted on Friday, amid the late unpleasantness in Boston, most people undoubtedly missed it—so I thought I would flag it … Read more »
Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain were quick out of the box last night in declaring that the Obama administration should hold Dzhokar Tsarnaev in military detention:
Now that the suspect is in custody, the last thing we should want
The Constitution Project has released the results of its Task Force on Detainee Treatment in the form of this 577-page report—which concludes that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” and that “the … Read more »
That’s the gist of this report, filed earlier today by Politico’s Josh Gerstein:
A federal judge declined Monday to take action on behalf of a hunger-striking prisoner at Guantanamo Bay whose attorneys say his life is in danger
Detainees and guards clashed violently early yesterday morning at Guantánamo Bay. See reports from the Washington Post, the New York Times, and NBC. In response to the hunger strikes the detainees have engaged in for the past … Read more »
Yesterday, pursuant to Judge Thomas Hogan’s recent order, lawyers for habeas petitioner Musa’ab Omar al-Madhwani filed a brief addressing the district court’s jurisdiction to hear al-Madhwani’s emergency challenge to the conditions of his confinement at Guantanamo.
The detainee—who is … Read more »
Earlier today, in Anam et. al. v. Obama, the district court sought further briefing on its power to hear a GTMO detainee’s complaints of mistreatment by detention personnel.
Background: an April 15 hearing had been set on hunger striker … Read more »
There are no major factual blunders in yesterday’s New York Times editorial on the Guantanamo Bay hunger strikes, and there’s actually a fair bit in the editorial with which I agree. But I’d be negligent in my duties as … Read more »
Peter Margulies recently discussed the effect of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA denying standing to plaintiffs challenging the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program on the ongoing litigation in Hedges v. Obama. (Steve made a … Read more »
See this letter from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Lietzau, on behalf of Secretary Hagel…
At bottom, it seems increasingly clear that there are two very different accounts out there about what’s happening on the ground at Guantánamo–that provided by … Read more »
Last Monday, I flagged Chief Judge Lamberth’s important new decision in a Guantánamo habeas case–Barre v. Obama–in which, among other things, he excoriated the government for how long it has taken them to release declassified (and therefore public) … Read more »
In case you missed it: on March 15, attorneys for the Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg filed this FOIA action against the Department of Defense (h/t Legal Times). Rosenberg’s complaint begins as follows:
1. This is an action under the
Philip Carter and Deborah Pearlstein have posted a thoughtful essay at Foreign Policy that emphasizes the utility of civilian criminal prosecution as a counterterrorism option. I very much agree with their positive take on DOJ’s track record, and I agree … Read more »
Ben has already noted that the United States and Afghahnistan struck a deal to resume the process of handing over the remnants of U.S. detention operations in Afghanistan–a process that hit a rough patch recently when it began to appear … Read more »
Even for those keeping up with the Guantánamo litigation, this decision by Chief Judge Lamberth, a declassified version of which was released on Friday, may have slipped under the radar. The specific issue in Barre v. Obama is yet another … Read more »
Both the New York Times and Washington Post are reporting that U.S. and Afghan officials have resolved the dispute over the transfer of authority over the Detention Facility at Parwan to Afghanistan. The Times reports:
On Saturday, a Pentagon spokesman
While we appreciate Ben’s answer to our question (and share his view that we’re reaching the point of the conversation where everything has been said and everyone has said it), we still fail to understand how the Libya example illuminates … Read more »
Ben writes that it is the “political reality” that “any president is going to feel obliged to maintain counterterrorism on offense,” i.e., counterterrorism through military means, “and Congress—whining, carping, complaining all the way both that the president is being … Read more »
It’s quickly becoming apparent that we and Jack appear to be talking past each other on the merits of the Chesney/Goldsmith/Waxman/Wittes (CGWW) proposal for a new framework statute for “extra-AUMF threats.” In Jack’s final response, for example, he frames … Read more »
We appreciate Jack’s quick and comprehensive clarification of his views—and of what the CGWW proposal we critiqued last night seeks to achieve. Like Jack, we want to start by emphasizing the many areas of agreement between us and CGWW … Read more »
Jennifer and Steve describe the statutory proposal for next-generation terrorist threats by Bobby, Matt, Ben, and me as a “sweeping and preemptive militarization of counterterrorism” which is “not just unnecessary on current facts, but also deeply misguided—and likely counterproductive—as a … Read more »
In the very first days after the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration asked Congress for broad statutory authorization to use military force to “deter and pre-empt any future acts of terrorism or aggression against the United … Read more »
Wednesday on the Senate floor, three senators spoke about the Obama administration’s decision to prosecute, in a federal court, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and Al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte and Lindsey Graham unsurprisingly opposed this … Read more »
Don’t look now, but a populous Muslim country in the Indian subcontinent is simmering with tension between its Islamist parties and its ruling civilian government. No, I’m not talking about Pakistan. I’m talking about Bangladesh, which has carried out a
The more I reflect on last week’s drone contretemps–and what effect the efforts of Senator Paul and his followers has had / may still have on U.S. policy–the more I have a profound and distressing sense of déjà vu. After … Read more »
The DNI has released the latest report, accurate as of January 2013, but only released this month, on the reengagement of former Guantanamo detainees. The DNI is required to release the report under the 2012 Intelligence Authorization Act. Here’s … Read more »
The New York Times reports today that “U.S. Again Delays Transfer of Bagram Prison to Afghan Forces.” (Bobby discussed some of these issues, including the “Daqduq problem” issues, a couple of days ago). The article quotes U.S. and … Read more »
I’ve posted many times on the gradual but inexorable process through which the United States is closing out its detention operations in Afghanistan, including this recent update. It has been a bumpy road, and after President Karzai recently suggested that … Read more »
Further to Ben’s points on Senators Ayotte and Graham, note that the latter suggests that the Administration did something improper, in its handling of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith:
“To bring this person to New York City, if that’s what happened,
Over at Politico, Ginger Gibson is reporting that:
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) criticized the Obama administration on Thursday over reports that an al-Qaeda leader had been brought to New York.
According to The New
Further to my last post on the capture and prosecution of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, I now want to share a few thoughts on the prosecution side of things.
The indictment has been unsealed, and is now available here. It … Read more »
As Ritika notes below, the United States has captured a senior al Qaeda figure (Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden), and will be bringing him to the United States for prosecution in civilian court. One … Read more »
So reports the Wall Street Journal:
A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and longtime suspected member of al Qaeda has been captured by U.S. officials, who are preparing to bring him to the U.S. to face charges, according to three
I don’t normally—or ever, really—write posts based on law firm press releases. But I’m going to make an exception this time for this announcement by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe about Robert Loeb:
Washington, D.C., – Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Department of Justice’s Inspector General released an interim report on the Department’s handling of “known or suspected” terrorists who have entered the government’s witness protection program. The report found, among other things, that information on some program participants had not been turned over to no-fly list authorities; and, that two such people could not be located—though one… Read more »
