HRW strongly opposes the Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill and urges Members of Congress to resist any compromise that would further limit the ability of detainees in Guantanamo Bay to seek review of their ongoing detention.
Re: Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act
Dear Conferees:
We strongly oppose the Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill and urge you to resist any compromise that would further limit the ability of detainees in Guantanamo Bay to seek review of their ongoing detention.
In precluding detainees from bringing habeas challenges to their ongoing detention and the use of torture, the Senate bill already gravely undermines the rule of law. Any further restriction on federal court jurisdiction would undercut the important achievements of the McCain Amendment. Detainees would be unable to seek any form of relief in any court of law from ongoing torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
We urge you to remove the Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment from the Defense Authorization bill, and to assign it to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, where these complex judicial issues can be given careful consideration they deserve.
Sincerely,
Human Rights Watch
The Center for American Progress
The Open Society Policy Institute
Human Rights First
