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LEARN MORE > The Military Commissions Act and Habeas Corpus > Habeas Corpus FAQs NEWS > ACLU Continues Monitoring Illegitimate Guantánamo Hearings This Week (3/12/2008) > ACLU to Monitor Guantánamo Military Hearing Wednesday (12/4/2007) > ACLU Names Inside-the-Beltway 'Best and Worst' for Civil Liberties in 2007 (1/3/2008) > Military Commission Judge Rebuffs Bush Administration and Applies Geneva Conventions to Guantánamo Detainee (12/18/2007) > Special U.N. Rapporteur on Human Rights Calls for Granting of Habeas Corpus Rights to Prisoners and an End to Indefinite Detentions (12/12/2007) > Citing Destruction of Torture Tapes, ACLU Asks Court to Hold CIA in Contempt (12/12/2007) > ACLU Cheers House and Senate Intel Bill Conferees for Including Provision Prohibiting Torture and Abuse (12/6/2007) > ACLU Responds to CIA's Destruction of Harsh Interrogation Tapes (12/6/2007) GET INVOLVED Day of Action: Watch a Webcast of the Rally >> FINDHABEAS.COM >> THE FACTS > About the Military Commissions Act > About Detention

Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union is encouraged to see the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is meeting to mark up a vital bill to restore due process rights to detainees.  H.R. 2826, introduced by Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) of the Armed Services Committee, will restore habeas corpus rights to those being detained by the United States government at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.

The following can be attributed to Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel for the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“Congress must do the right thing and restore habeas rights.  We live in a country that is governed by laws and a Constitution.  This means not keeping people in detention camps for years without any charges against them, or any legal process for determining their future.  The Bush Administration has not heeded the wisdom of our nation’s founding fathers who enshrined the idea of basic due process protections in the Constitution.  We hope that today’s action shows that the House leadership will start to focus on a major reason why they were put in power—to restore constitutional checks and balances and make sure that no president will ever be a king or queen.”

For more information on the ACLU’s efforts to restore the constitution please visit:
www.findhabeas.com and www.aclu.org/mca