September 11th Advocates Statement Regarding the Closing of Guantanamo Bay
AMKor...@aol.com
For immediate release
January 23, 2009
September
11th Advocates
Statement Regarding the Closing of Guantanamo Bay
January
23, 2009
The Guantanamo Bay Detention
Center continues to be an enormous stain on America’s reputation. Newly
elected President Obama has taken the first step in removing this stain by
keeping his campaign promise to the American people.
The
temporary halting of proceedings at Gitmo gives us the “audacity to hope”
that President Obama will be able to restore America's good name, which has been
repeatedly tarnished during the past eight years.
We
appreciate the tough decisions that President Obama has been forced to make and
admire him for taking these difficult tasks on. We look forward to hearing
his plan for closing Guantanamo Bay forever, finding a just way to try the
detainees and putting an end to this horrific chapter in America's
history.
# # #
Patty
Casazza
Monica Gabrielle
Mindy Kleinberg
Lorie Van
Auken
Additonally, please see
earlier statement below, which further explains our
position.
September 11th Advocates Statement
April 3, 2008
As women whose
husbands were killed on September 11 2001, we feel strongly that the
perpetrators of that horrific crime should be brought to justice. But first it
is imperative to prove that these six detainees are indeed the guilty parties.
Unfortunately, the Administration insists on trying the suspects in the
broken military commissions system. Prosecuting these men within a system that
is secretive in nature and lacking in due process, and which uses evidence
tainted by questionable interrogation methods and possibly even torture, is a
dangerous endeavor. All Americans, and indeed the entire international
community, must have the opportunity to witness for themselves the body of
evidence that ties these individuals to the 9/11 terrorists’ plot. Otherwise the
credibility of any verdict will lack legitimacy. Moreover, unless these trials
are above reproach, any convictions will bring the wrath of the international
community, damaging what is left of America’s standing in the world. Considering
that we continue to rely heavily on cooperation from other nations to provide us
with intelligence information on would be terrorists, this course of action can
only be detrimental to these crucial relationships, thereby jeopardizing our
national security.
These trials, when they finally take place,
will be scrutinized around the globe. Unless the victims’ families, the American
public and the entire world can be convinced that we are trying and convicting
the people who are truly responsible for the 9/11 crimes, these trials will be
seen as a miserable failure, dimming our prospects of improved international
relationships, and making us more vulnerable to terrorist attacks in the future.
On behalf of ourselves, our husbands, and our families, we support the
American Civil Liberties Union in its pursuit of justice and insistence on due
process. The only outcome worth pursuing is the truth, and the only way
get there is by fair trials that uphold the Constitution.
September 11th Advocates
Patty Casazza
Monica
Gabrielle
Mindy Kleinberg
Lorie Van
Auken
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