Justice and the Rule of Law

bound, gagged, detained

"[I]if this Nation is to remain true to the ideals symbolized by its flag, it must not wield the tools of tyrants even to resist an assault by the forces of tyranny."

- Four Supreme Court Justices in the dissenting opinion in Rumsfeld v. Padilla

IN FOCUS: Habeas Corpus

On December 5th, 2007, the Supreme Court heard administration lawyers defend the indefensible: that the President can ignore the writ of habeas corpus and hold people indefinitely, without charge and without question.

The hearing challenges the administrations attacks on our system of justice and the assertion that fear, not freedom, guides our country. The outcome could mark a significant shift back to our founding values of truth, justice and liberty.

» Read the summary of Amnesty's report on habeas corpus
» Download the full report (PDF)
» Read the complete report online
» See Amnesty's framework to end unlawful detentions
» Download Amnesty's Supreme Court amicus brief (PDF)
» Check out the habeas corpus timeline

Basic rights protected in the US Constitution's Bill of Rights and international law must not be summarily denied. The US must stand firm on inalienable rights.

The Administration is using military commissions that lack basic safeguards for justice and set a devastating example for the world. The US appears to dismiss time-honored frameworks of justice it led in establishing. The US helped develop the Geneva Conventions after WWII as a result of outrage over treatment of US prisoners by Japan and the horrors of the Holocaust. US actions undermining the conventions may weaken the US ability to demand compliance for American servicemen and servicewomen in the future.

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