New details of torture at CIA “black sites” 

On Thursday, a man who was disappeared and tortured at secret CIA prisons, or “black sites” for three years read aloud a lengthy public statement in a courtroom at Guantánamo. Although many aspects of Majid Khan’s torture were described in portions of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report declassified in 2014, he disclosed new details Thursday, the first day of his sentencing hearing before a jury at a military commission, providing a fuller picture of his experience in the U.S. government’s post-9/11 torture program. 

“I have a story that I have waited almost two decades to tell, so I want to start by thanking you for taking the time to listen to my statement,” Mr. Khan told those assembled in the courtroom. “I want to be clear that my intention today is simple. I have one purpose. To tell my story with the hope that you better understand who I was and who I have become. I want you to know what I did, what happened to me, and what I hope for the future.”

Visit our website for Mr. Khan’s full statement and our press release about the newest revelations of torture at CIA black sites. While you’re there, we invite you to learn more about Mr. Khan on his client profile page and by reading a brief collection of his poetry, including two poems Drama and I Dream About You, performed by Frank Antonio Lopez (Lumi) of the Peace Poets.

The military commission sentencing hearing of Mr. Khan, who was tortured and imprisoned by the U.S. for eighteen years, concluded Friday, paving the way for his transfer out of Guantánamo. The 26-year sentence Majid Khan received Friday from a jury is a formality because his 2012 plea agreement with the U.S. government supersedes it. Under the terms of that deal, he is scheduled for release in February 2022. Seven of the panel members today recommended clemency for Mr. Khan.

More information on Mr. Khan’s sentencing on our website.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court to weigh in on Death-by-Incarceration lawsuit 

A lawsuit brought by six people serving mandatory Death-By-Incarceration sentences, commonly known as Life Without Parole, will go before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which will decide if a lawsuit challenging the practice can proceed. Represented by the Abolitionist Law Center, Amistad Law Project, and Center for Constitutional Rights, they seek an end to the prohibition on parole for those serving life sentences under the state’s felony murder rule. 

The felony murder rule, which exists in forty-four states, holds a person liable for murder if the person participates in a felony that leads to a death, even if the person plays no direct role in the death or does not intend or anticipate it. In Pennsylvania, people found guilty are automatically sentenced to life, and a separate provision of state law prohibits parole eligibility for anyone serving life.

Learn more on our case page: Scott v. PA Board of Probation and Parole, filed in July 2020. And continue reading about this latest development on our website.

Men in California prisons continue fight to end unconstitutional use of solitary confinement  

On Thursday, men who spent a decade or longer in solitary confinement charged that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is violating a landmark settlement agreement and continuing to undermine their constitutional rights in a court hearing. As part of the case Ashker v. Governor of California, the men’s attorneys asked a district court judge to extend the monitoring period of the settlement for a second time and to order remedies for continued rights violations. 

“The trauma we endured continues to impact the mental, emotional, and physical health of all the men California tortured for so long, even those like me who are now out of prison,” said Paul Redd, a plaintiff in the case who suffered decades of solitary confinement and was released from prison last year.

Learn more on our website.

We’ve joined 287 organizations to demand Biden Administration condemn Israel’s crackdown on human rights groups 

A broad coalition of more than 288 U.S.-based social justice, civil rights, and human rights organizations is calling on the Biden administration to condemn the Israeli government’s decision last week to designate six Palestinian human rights groups as “terrorist organizations.” In a letter issued Friday, we say the Biden administration has no choice but to condemn and push back against this move if it is to fulfill its avowed commitment to human rights. 

“These actions by the Israeli government are a clear attack on human rights,” the letter reads. “As such, we expect nothing less than issuing a swift rejection of this unprecedented attack on Palestinian human rights organizations and the attempt by the Israeli government to shut down, delegitimize, isolate, and chill a growing human rights movement.”

For more information, and to read the letter in full, head to our website.

“The Activist Files” podcast episode 43: The Power of Art – Talking Disability Justice and Movements for Liberation 

How do organizers and advocates use art to promote and demystify the struggle for disability justice and its connections to other liberation movements? On the 43rd episode of the Activist Files, Senior Legal Worker Leah Todd speaks with Britney Wilson, a poet and writer who was featured in the Brave New Voices documentary series, attorney, and Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic at New York Law School, and Lucy Trieshmann, an educator and writer, third-year law student at New York University School of Law, co-founder of the Breaking Point Project, and treasurer of the National Disabled Law Students Association, about using art, storytelling, advocacy, and litigation as tools to move towards a world beyond ableism, criminalization, and other forms of discrimination. This episode coincides with the observation of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October.

Listen to the latest episode on our website.