MATT ROTHSCHILD
Editor of The Progressive, Rothschild recently wrote the article “The New McCarthyism.” The Progressive is offering a regular feature called “McCarthyism Watch.”
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SARAH HOGARTH
Director of the National Lawyers Guild Post 9-11 Project, Hogarth said today: “The government is talking out of both sides of its mouth about the detainees. It is claiming that the detainees held on just immigration charges have no connection to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, yet it is denying them bond and is holding secret hearings. We need to know who is in jail, who wants a lawyer and that they are being treated fairly.”
MICHAEL RATNER
Vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner spent extensive time at Guantanamo Bay when he represented Haitian refugees held there. He said today: “Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention clearly states that if there is ‘any doubt’ as to whether those captured are prisoners of war, they must be treated as such ‘until such time as their status has been determined by a competent tribunal.’ Similarly, the U.S. Army has nearly identical requirements. The U.S. government’s assertion that they need not be treated as POWs violates the Army’s own regulations.”
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KEVIN GRAY
An activist, civil libertarian and former military officer, Gray is working on a book entitled The Death of Black Politics. He said today: “When Americans are treated similarly, like during Vietnam, the U.S. is quick to raise the Geneva Convention. Now this government is subverting it. This type of hypocrisy is part of the reason the U.S. government is resented around the world. We should insist that the U.S. abide by the Geneva Convention; it is the best assurance that our soldiers will be treated fairly and humanely.’
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MARJORIE COHN
An associate professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, Cohn just authored the article “Will Walker’s Statements Be Admitted Against Him?” (available at www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/forum on the Jurist web page). She can also be interviewed about the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
FRANCIS BOYLE
Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, Boyle sued Israeli Gen. Amos Yaron in a civil proceeding over the Sabra/Shatila massacre. He said today: “Yesterday a car bomb killed Elie Hobeika, a former militia chief whose forces carried out the 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps while surrounded by the Israeli army. Hobeika had recently indicated his willingness to testify against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli officials, including Yaron, at an ongoing criminal trial in Belgium for their role in the massacre….”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
