8/13/2019 Factsheet Habeas Corpus

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habeas corpus

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the facts about

what is habeas corpus?.

Habeas corpus, or the Great Writ, is the legal proce -dure that keeps the government from holding youindefinitely without showing cause. When you chal -lenge your detention by filing a habeas corpuspetition, the executive branch must explain to aneutral judge its justificat ion for holding you. Habeascorpus prevents the King from simply locking upsubjects in secret dungeons and throwing away thekey. Its been a pillar of Western law since the sign -ing of the Magna Carta in England in1215.

The Founders of our nation believed habeas corpuswas so essential to preserving liberty, justice, anddemocracy that they enshrined it in the very firstarticle of the United States Constitution.

In its waning days, the last Congress passed the Mil i -tary Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006 by a slimmargin. Among many ill-considered and dangerousprovisions, the MCA revoked the right to habeascorpus for anyone detained at Guantnamo Bay aswell as for any foreigner the government detainsanywhere and labels an enemy combatant. Thisprovision applies to legal residents of the U.S. aswell, meaning someone who has lived in the U.S. foryears could potentially be labeled an enemy com -

batant and then thrown into prison with no legalrecourse to challenge their detention.

The government has little or no evidence againstmost of the men detained at Guantnamo. We nowknow that almost none of the Guantnamo prisonerswere taken into custody by U.S. forces or capturedon any battlefield. The overwhelming majority weresold into captivity by Nor thern Alliance and Paki -stani warlords for substantial bounties$5,000 andmore for each person they turned in; enough money,

as leaflets the U.S. military distributed throughoutAfghanistan said, to take care of your family . . . forthe rest of your life. In fact, of the nearly 800 menthat have been held at Guantnamo, only 10 haveever been charged with any crime.

Soon after the first 20 detainees were flown toGuantnamo, CCR began filing habeas corpuspetitions asking the government to explain why it washolding these men outside of the reach of the U.S.court system in what has since become a notorious

offshore penal colony. Despite numerous legal victoriethat af firm the detainees right to challenge their detetion, the Bush administration has managed to prevethe detainees from getting a fair hearing in the courts

The MCA extends a second-class system of justice fabeyond Guantnamo to any non-citizen includinlegal permanent residents of the U.S. anywhere in thworld whom the executive unilaterally declares to ban unlawful enemy combatant.

Habeas corpus was originally meant to act as bulwark precisely against this type of executive poweThe founders of our nation considered habeas corputhe most fundamental of rights because it insured tha

the executive branch could not hold people withoucause. Since the founding of the U.S., the writ has beesuspended on only four occasions, each for a brieperiod of time and each in territory that was an activcombat zone.

By compromising this core legal value and necessarprotection against the executive branch, the MCA haeroded the very foundation of our legal and const ittional framework. If we do not defend the detaineeright to habeas corpus and the rights of those who arnot yet citizens, we all lose.

Educate others about the habeas corpusTake this leaflet, make copies, and pass it to othersat your workplace, school, or place of worship.

Call and write representatives and demandthey support legislation that would repeal theMCA and restore the right to habeas corpus.

Write letters to the editor about the MCAfand habeas corpus for your local newspaper.Speak out, and encourage others to do the same.

how does it relate to Guantanamo?

what happened to habeas corpus?

what does this mean for the detainees?

what does this mean for everyone else

In June 2007, the Supreme Court decided to hear CCRmost recent case challenging the detention of many Guantanamo detainees. These men have faced indefinite detentiosham trials, and conditions rapidly inducing psychologicadeterioration for nearly six years. In the coming SupremCourt term, for the third time, the high court will hear thdetainees cases and, we hope, once more seek to hold th

Administration accountable and uphold habeas corpus.