December 28, 2015, New York – In response to news today that the Pentagon has been obstructing efforts to resettle cleared, longtime hunger striking Guantánamo prisoner Tariq Ba Odah, Mr. Ba Odah’s attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) staff attorney Omar Farah, issued the following statement:

Today’s revelations prove there is no line the Pentagon will not cross to frustrate the president’s efforts to close Guantánamo, even potentially blowing up resettlement negotiations at their most sensitive juncture. The only question is whether the White House is blind to or passively allowing the insubordination to continue. Either way, if this persists, Guantánamo will surely outlast Mr. Ba Odah, who still weighs just 74 pounds.

 The Center for Constitutional Rights has led the legal battle over Guantánamo for more than 13 years – representing clients in two Supreme Court cases and organizing and coordinating hundreds of pro bono lawyers across the country, ensuring that all the men detained at Guantánamo have had the option of legal representation. CCR is responsible for many Guantanamo cases in many venues, representing men in their habeas cases in federal court and before the military commissions and Periodic Review Boards, the families of men who died at Guantánamo, and men who have been released and are seeking accountability in international courts.