"Lawrence Wilkerson, from Bush administration insider to fierce critic"

Radio Times, NPR/WHYY, May 24, 2010: "Lawrence B. Wilkerson is a retired United States Army Colonel and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, and now teaches at the College of William and Mary and George Washington University. Since his retirement from public service in 2005, Wilkerson has been outspoken about the planning and execution of the Iraq War and the policies and practices at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He recently made waves when he wrote that the Bush administration knew it was imprisoning innocent men at Guantanamo, and that some of those men are still there in U.S. custody."

"The Response" movie

Starring Aasif Mandvi, Kate Mulgrew, and Peter Riegert; directed by Adam Rodgers; written and produced by Sig Libowitz.

"The response matters. Our response defines us."
--Colonel Jefferson

The Response is a courtroom drama based on the actual transcripts of the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals [officially known as the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, or CSRTs]. . . .

The Response was researched and fully vetted in conjunction with the University of Maryland School of Law.

A copy of the DVD was donated to the Doylestown public library by Amnesty International. Check it out.

"Bush Insider Reveals Guantanamo Deception: Hundreds of Innocents Jailed"

By Bill Quigley, opednews.com, April 20, 2010:

Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, provided shocking new testimony from inside the Bush Administration that hundreds of the men jailed at Guantanamo were innocent, the top people in the Bush Administration knew full well they were innocent, and that information was kept from the public.

Wilkerson said President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld "indefinitely detained the innocent for political reasons" and many in the administration knew it. The wrongfully held prisoners were not released because of political maneuverings aimed in part to cover up the mistakes of the administration.

Colonel Wilkerson, who served in the U.S. Army for over thirty years, signed a sworn declaration for an Oregon federal court case stating that he found out in August 2002 that the US knew that many of the prisoners at Guantanamo were not enemy combatants. Wilkerson also discussed this in a revealing and critical article on Guantanamo for the Washington Note. . . . [continued]

"Guantánamo Habeas Week: Exposing Torture, Misconceptions and Government Incompetence"

By Andy Worthington, April 19, 2010:

In an attempt to raise awareness of the importance of the rulings being made in US courts on the habeas corpus petitions of the prisoners held at Guantánamo (as authorized by a significant Supreme Court ruling in June 2008), I’m devoting most of my work this week to articles covering the 47 cases decided to date (34 of which have been won by the prisoners), as a series entitled, “Guantánamo Habeas Week.”

Although I have covered the 47 cases in detail over the last 19 months, I had not, until now, followed the example of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Washington Independent and the Miami Herald, who have all produced “Habeas Corpus Scorecards.” As a result, this series kicks off with my own list, providing links to my analyses of the rulings, to the judges’ own unclassified opinions, and, where relevant, to my articles covering the prisoners’ release from Guantánamo, and progress reports on a handful of appeals. . . . [continued]

"Guantanamo: Beyond the Law"

"An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad. . . ." http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/

"Innocent Guantánamo Torture Victim Fouad al-Rabiah Is Released in Kuwait"

By Andy Worthington, truthout.org, December 10, 2009: "The long ordeal of Fouad al-Rabiah, an innocent man and a 50-year-old father of four, who had been in US custody for almost exactly eight years, finally came to an end today, when he was flown back to his homeland of Kuwait from Guantánamo, where he had spent the majority of those lost years, after several brutal months in US custody in Afghanistan. . . ."

"USA: Still failing human rights in the name of global 'war'"

"Pyrrhic court victories for administration as Guantánamo detentions enter ninth year and deadline for closure missed," Amnesty International, January 20, 2010.

"Former Detainees Boumediene and Deghayes Address President Obama on Guantánamo Anniversary"

"Human Rights Attorneys and Activists Hold Rally, March and Briefing to Demand Closure of Base and Oppose Preventive Detention in U.S.," Center for Constitutional Rights, January 11, 2010. See also "Obama's Guantanamo."

"A new report questions 'suicides' at Guantanamo"

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, December 7, 2009.

"Uighurs Leave Guantánamo for Palau"

By David Johnston, NYTimes.com, October 31, 2009.

"Lawsuit Accuses Psychologist of Ignoring Guantanamo Torture"

By William Fisher, truthout.org, October 30, 2009.

"A Truly Shocking Gitmo Story"

Andy Worthington: "A Truly Shocking Gitmo Story: Judge Confirms an Innocent Man Tortured to Make False Confessions," Counterpunch, October 1, 2009.