Suit on Behalf Of More Than 500 John Does at Guantanamo

CCR and Pro-Bono Counsel File Suit on Behalf Of More Than 500 John Does at Guantanamo
Center For Constitutional Rights

In Washington, D.C., on February 11, 2005 attorneys filed a petition for habeas corpus late yesterday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of the hundreds of unrepresented people who remain detained by the United States Government at Guantánamo Bay. These nameless detainees join more than 70 whose cases challenging their continued imprisonment are already being addressed in federal court.

The suit, spearheaded by lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), is captioned “John Does Nos. 1-570 v. Bush” because the Bush Administration has continued to withhold the identities of the detainees it keeps in indefinite detention. Until now, without the names of the detainees and without physical access to them, lawyers have been unable to help those who wish to seek their day in court under the Supreme Court’s decision last June in Rasul v. Bush. In that case, also brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Supreme Court held that each detainee has the right to challenge his detention in federal court. Seven months later, the Bush administration continues to disregard the Supreme Court’s decision by blocking the detainees from meaningful access to attorneys or the courts.