wfn.org | Faith Leader Available on U.S. Supreme Court Guantanamo Ruling

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

Advisory: Faith Leader Pro-Due Process for Guantanamo Detainees Available for
Comment

June 23, 2004

When the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue of due process for Guantanamo
detainees, please consider the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar as a spokesperson for
a reaction statement/interview.

The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar is General Secretary of the National Council of
Churches USA, whose 36 Protestant and Orthodox member denominations count 45
million adherents in more than 100,000 local churches nationwide.  An
ordained United Methodist minister, he previously served as President of the
Claremont (Calif.) Theological School (1990-2000) and was a six-term member
of Congress from Pennsylvania's Seventh District (1975-87).  He is a frequent
media guest on a wide range of issues -- most recently, on the U.S. abuse of
prisoners in Iraq.  

The NCC, with a long tradition of advocating for civil liberties and human
rights, was among co-signers, in January, of the Human Rights First (LCHR)
amicus brief in the Al Odah v. United States and Rasul v. Bush-consolidated
cases, affirming respect for every person's God-given human dignity and
asserting that "there is no land without law."	

In March, the NCC co-hosted (with the Center for Constitutional Rights, the
American Civil Liberties Union, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Peaceful
Tomorrows (9/11 families)) a delegation from the London-based Guantanamo
Human Rights Commission, which brought families of Guantanamo detainees to
the United States to demand that the prisoners either be charged and afforded
an opportunity to defend themselves or released for lack of evidence, as each
individual case warrants.

To reach Dr. Edgar, contact: NCC Media Liaison Carol Fouke, 212-870-2252;
cfouke@ncccusa.org; Administrative Assistant Vicki Manning, 212-870-2025, or
(IF all else fails!) Dr. Edgar by cellphone, 917-821-0852