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Voice of the People
Guantanamo should be closed
H. Candace Gorman (letter to the editor)
Chicago Tribune
May 16, 2006
I am an attorney and I represent one of the men held at Guantanamo. I have represented him for more than six months. I have not been allowed to visit with him. I have not been allowed to speak with him. I have not been allowed any communication with him. I do not know what he is charged with (neither does he). I do not know what evidence, if any, the government has against my client.
Perhaps his misfortune is that he was found wearing a Casio watch (several of the detainees were picked up for that infraction). I do not know if my client has been tortured or what his health problems are (a letter sent from another detainee said that my client is in poor health and his health is worsening).
I asked the judge to allow me to see my client on an expedited basis because of my concerns regarding his health. The judge said no because I cannot show that my client "faces a concrete, impending and irreparable harm."
Of course it is pretty hard to show that harm when you are not allowed to communicate with your client.
When and if I am finally allowed to communicate with my client, the government will review all of my notes and I will not be allowed to talk about anything my client tells me until the government tells me I can.
We use to have a court system that enforced the law and a Congress that stood up to the executive branch. Now we have neither and we are starting to look a lot like the former Soviet Union.
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