The Center for Constitutional Rights has been at the forefront of the legal battle against indefinite detention and torture at Guantánamo since the prison’s opening, representing dozens of currently and formerly detained men. In 2004 and 2008, we won landmark Supreme Court cases that established U.S. court jurisdiction over the prison and affirmed detainees’ right to habeas corpus review. The Center for Constitutional Rights sent one of the first civilian lawyers to the base and organized a network of hundreds of pro bono lawyers (the “GITMO bar”) to represent the men being detained there. We helped galvanize a global resistance to the flagrant violations of the human rights of the nearly 800 Muslim men and boys who have been imprisoned on the island in a prison designed to exist beyond the reach of law. Through a combination of strategic litigation, policy advocacy, engagement with international human rights bodies, and media and movement-building efforts focused on highlighting the stories and resistance of our clients, we continue working tirelessly to secure their freedom and close Guantánamo. 

The urgency to close Guantánamo could not be greater. We can no longer tolerate the U.S. government’s use of indefinite detention without charge or trial, nor can we tolerate the U.S. government's failure to address the harm it has caused — including the racist, xenophobic, and anti-Muslim sentiment that Guantanamo’s existence continues to perpetuate.