David Cynamon [partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman; Project Kuwaiti Freedom]: "I represent the four remaining Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, captured in Pakistan by bounty hunters and sold to the US government. Before being sold, these captives, who were charity workers, were not given any hearing or the benefit of any investigation. They simply were turned over for the cash payment. Then, without any hearing, the US government transported them to Guantanamo, where they remain today after over 1,700 days of captivity — again without any due process.

Our system of justice was founded on the belief that no one should be imprisoned without a fair hearing to determine whether there is a basis to imprison them – and that they are innocent till proven guilty. These are fundamental legal rights granted to us in our Constitution, first recognized in English law as a result of the Magna Carta in England over 500 years ago. These rights apply to all human beings, not just American citizens, particularly where in this case the captives were kidnapped and transported to the US in bondage. In spite of these elementary rights, my clients—and hundreds of other captives—have been denied the right to a fair hearing with basic due process to challenge their imprisonment.

Therefore, Congress' recent passage of a bill that strips detainees of their right to Habeas Corpus is a shameful contradiction of some of our country's founding basic principles. If the United States is going to win the war on terror, it is crucial that we, as a country, maintain our moral authority over our enemies and practice what we preach. Congress' actions last week falls so far short in respecting these basic rights that I fear it will be a day of lasting dishonor for America.

While we are confident that the Supreme Court, if necessary, will again confirm and preserve these fundamental due process rights, that is a distant consolation to my clients, who have been isolated from their families for over five years in this endless legal limbo never, never land.

After all this time, why is it that the Bush administration still does not trust America's judicial system to distinguish the innocent from the guilty?"