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NEW YORK - Even while the Bush administration's Guantánamo policy continues to crumble, the U.S. government announced charges today against another detainee. The government is seeking the death penalty for Abd Al-Rahim Hussain Mohammed Al-Nashiri, who is being charged for his alleged involvement in crimes including the USS Cole bombing. The American Civil Liberties Union is sponsoring civilian attorneys to represent Al-Nashiri through its John Adams Project, a partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to supplement the under-resourced military defense teams that have been assigned to detainees.

This is the first military commissions case to be charged since the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Bush administration's national security policies by ruling earlier this month that the Constitution applies to Guantánamo and that all 270 prisoners there can challenge their indefinite detention in federal court.

"The ACLU has assembled a legal team to represent Al-Nashiri to protect constitutional principles that are the bedrock of American liberty, including the right to a fair trial and a vigorous and properly resourced defense," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "This case - like that of other Guantánamo detainees - is being pursued in an unconstitutional and biased system that is a far cry from the tried-and-true American justice system. With the government's continued insistence on using a patently unconstitutional system, we are redoubling our effort to make sure this unlawful farce will not go on unchallenged."

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