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The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law

By John Adkins

New title in the LRC!  Just released from NYU Press, "The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law," contains the stories of the Guantanamo detainees as told by their lawyers.  It is edited by Mark P. Denbeaux and Jonathan Hafetz, who represented Guantanamo detainees themselves, and who collected stories covering life and the ensuing litigation at Guantanamo. Earlier this year we posted about the online archive of Guantanamo material put forward by these two scholars, and hosted by New York University Libraries.

From the publisher:

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the United States imprisoned more than seven hundred and fifty men at its naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. These men, ranging from teenage boys to men in their eighties from over forty different countries, were detained for years without charges, trial, and 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 habeas counsel more than two years?and a ruling from the United States Supreme Court?to finally gain the right to visit and talk to their clients at Guantánamo. Even then, lawyers were forced to operate under severe restrictions designed to inhibit communication and envelop the prison in secrecy. In time, however, lawyers were able to meet with their clients and bring the truth about Guantánamo to the world.

Available in the LRC Reading Room at KZ6495 .G83 2009  

Full post as published by l r c - o r b i t ... the usd research satellite on November 25, 2009 (boomark / email).