The Guantánamo lawyers
Subtitle: inside a prison outside the law
By: edited by Mark P. Denbeaux and Jonathan Hafetz ; with Grace A. Brown ... [et al.].
Contributors: Denbeaux, Mark P.; Hafetz, Jonathan.; Brown, Grace A.
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 420
ISBN-13: 9780814737361
Subjects: Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp; Prisoners of war -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Cuba -- Guantánamo Bay Naval Base; Detention of persons -- Cuba -- Guantánamo Bay Naval Base; Lawyers -- Cuba -- Guantánamo Bay Naval Base; Prisoners of war -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Afghanistan -- Kapisa (Extinct city); Detention of persons -- Afghanistan -- Kapisa (Extinct city)
Description: Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States imprisoned more than 750 men at its naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees, ranging from teenagers to elderly men from over forty different countries, were held for years without charges, trial, or a fair hearing. Without any legal status or protection, they were truly outside the law: imprisoned in secret, denied communication with their families, and subjected to extreme isolation, physical and mental abuse, and, in some instances, torture. These are the detainees' stories, told by their lawyers because the prisoners themselves were silenced. It took lawyers who had filed habeas corpus petitions over two years to finally gain the right to visit and talk to their clients at Guantánamo. Even then, lawyers worked under severe restrictions, designed to inhibit communication and maximize secrecy. Eventually, however, lawyers did meet with their clients. This book contains over 100 personal narratives from attorneys who have represented detainees held at Guantánamo as well as at other overseas prisons, from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to secret CIA jails or "black sites."
Table of contents: title: Representing the "worst of the worst"; title: Getting behind the wire; title: Uncovering Guantánamo's human face; title: Red tape and Kangaroo courts; title: Tortured; title: Alternative forms of advocacy; title: Leaving Guantánamo; title: Guantánamo beyond Cuba : a global detention system outside the law.