Repeal Indefinite Detention in the NDAA

Last December the National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law by Congress, thereby codifying worldwide indefinite military detention without charge or trial for the first time in our Nation’s history.

The powers contained within the NDAA are completely at odds with our American values of freedom and due process, and corrode our Nation’s commitment to the rule of law, which generations have fought to preserve. The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield. Although the language in the NDAA is ambiguous, it does not explicitly rule out the application of indefinite military detention to US citizens and legal permanent residents.

Providing for the indefinite detention of civilians captured far from any battlefield harms our Nation’s reputation for respect for democratic values in the international community.