In this edition of the Frontlines of Justice, we share a statement on the 24th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay. We also share a new blog post regarding the recent aggression in Venezuela. Read to the end to learn more! |
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| Twenty-four years of lawlessness at Guantánamo Bay |
With the 24th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay on January 11, we issued the following statement: |
We have said every year since the prison opened, and we say again after 24 years: Guantánamo must be closed now, permanently, starting with the prompt transfer and safe resettlement of our client Guled Hassan Duran, who has been approved for transfer for many years. Guantánamo persists, in both the literal and figurative sense. There is Guantánamo, the military prison that the Bush administration established in January 2002 to hold people it captured in its so-called global "war on terror," a place of lawlessness and racism, where the U.S. government has tortured, indefinitely detained, humiliated, force-fed, and otherwise abused hundreds of Muslim men and boys. Down from a peak of 780, fifteen people remain. They include Mr. Duran and two other men also long approved for transfer; three men who have never been charged with any offense and await approval for transfer; and nine military commission defendants, including the five 9/11 suspects, whose plea agreements were unlawfully withdrawn by the Biden administration and who will never stand trial because they were tortured by the CIA, and two who have been convicted and are serving sentences. There is also what "Guantánamo" represents, the dark emblem of the Bush administration's far-reaching effort to evade the law, wage war without end or territorial limits, and expand presidential power at the expense of human rights and civil liberties. |
Read the full statement on our website. You can view an updated version of the Faces of Guantánamo on our website as well. | |
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Whispers of War Defined My Childhood: The Invasion of Venezuela and the Panama Precedent |
In our latest blog post, Communications Director Sunyata Altenor draws parallels between the recent U.S. aggression in Venezuela and Operation "Just Cause" in Panama and its impact on her childhood. Below is an excerpt from the piece. |
Guerra. Invasión. Golpe. These were the words being whispered by the adults around me in the days after the United States invaded Panamá in 1989. I was about six years old. My family had emigrated to Washington Heights in the early 80s, a primarily Spanish-speaking immigrant neighborhood in New York City. I certainly didn't understand geopolitics, but I understood fear. I understood the tears. I remember adults purchasing as many calling cards as they could, trying to reach family back home. I saw my parents cry for the first time, whispering that something bad had happened, something that would change everything. I heard the name Noriega over and over again. It was the first time I realized these words meant loss. And I would later learn that one of the fractures of that invasion was personal: I wouldn't be able to see my favorite uncle, Carlos, because he had refused to murder his own people in the "golpe" — the coup — that followed. He had joined the U.S. military at 19, a naturalized citizen trying to give his family safety and opportunity. But he drew a line at killing his own people. For that, he was gone. |
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JANUARY 28, 2026 / NEW ORLEANS, LA |
Join us at the oral argument in Inclusive Louisiana, Mount Triumph Baptist Church, RISE St. James v. St. James Parish, et al. This lawsuit challenging environmental racism in Cancer Alley seeks a moratorium on all new sitings of industrial petrochemical facilities and expansions of existing facilities, protection of unmarked cemeteries of people once enslaved in the Parish, and a court-monitored process involving directly-affected communities to help assess remediation and guide transformation. |
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| This is the Center for Constitutional Rights' weekly "Frontlines of Justice" news round-up, keeping you in the loop about what we've been up to and what's coming soon. Check it out every Monday, your one-stop-shop for updates, news coverage, reports from court appearances, upcoming events, and more! |
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