9/11 Families Want Guantánamo Detainees Prosecuted In Federal Court

9/11 Families Want Guantánamo Detainees Prosecuted In Federal Court

New ACLU Video Features 9/11 Families Asking For True Justice

NEW YORK, November 13, 2009 /PRNewswire/ — A new video released by the American Civil Liberties Union this week features family members of 9/11 victims calling for federal trials of terrorism suspects. The families were interviewed before the Obama administration announced today that certain Guantánamo detainees will be transferred to the U.S. for trial in federal court. The administration also said other detainees will be tried in the illegitimate military commissions.

"It is of utmost importance to me that those who were responsible for the attacks of 9/11 face a court," says Adele Welty in the ACLU video. Her son was a New York firefighter killed at the World Trade Center.

"It's very important to me that we get the right people," says John Leinung, whose stepson was killed while working in the Twin Towers. "That the right people are punished or held to account for what happened on 9/11."

Pat Perry, whose son was a police offer killed on 9/11, says she would rather see the Guantánamo detainees who have been held without charge "appear in open court where we can all sift out what we feel is really the truth and the judges can make a decision based on our Constitution."

These 9/11 family members all say they agree that holding detainees without charge in Guantánamo is a betrayal of American values and they look forward to true justice being served in federal court.

"My son gave his life to save those trapped in the Twin Towers," Welty says, "and it does not honor him that we violate our Constitution in retaliation for what happened on September 11."


Press Contact:
Rachel Myers
(212) 549-2689
(212) 549-2666
media@aclu.org