News Release

Guantanamo Legacy: A Decade of Detentions

Statement of Lisa M. Wayne, President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers:

January 11, 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nearly three years after President Obama’s executive order to close the facility within one year, it remains open. 171 men are detained there, even though nearly half of them have been cleared for release by both the Bush and Obama administrations. On this anniversary, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers continues the fight to ensure fair justice and due process for all of the detainees held there and to, one day, close Guantanamo. 

Contacts

NACDL Communications Department

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.