Fact Sheets and FAQs

CCR Factsheets and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are in-depth, conceptual looks at cases, issues and policies. The resources cover a variety of areas, and aim to move beyond the boundaries of specific cases to address some of the root issues and causes. Most Factsheets and FAQs are also available to download as pdf's so that they can be easily printed and distributed.

This list can be ordered by date or name, and filtered by the issues to which the Factsheet relates.

  1. Bowoto v. Chevron: The Oil Company's Misleading Public Statements

    Chevron has been actively misleading its American customers and the American press about its involvement in human rights abuses in Nigeria. A few highlights: 1. Chevron Says It Was Not Involved in the Brutal Attacks on…

  2. Bowoto v. Chevron: Dead Fish, Dead Trees, No Water to Drink

    Chevron’s Own Environmental Impact Studies Show Its Ugly Environmental Record in Nigeria

  3. Bowoto v. Chevron: How Chevron Pays, Houses, Transports, Schedules, and Directs the Nigerian Police and Military

    Through its subsidiary, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Chevron directs the notorious Nigerian military and police forces that commit gross human rights abuses on its behalf. Yet in its public face, Chevron pretends that it has no…

  4. Bowoto v. Chevron: Oil Giant's Nigerian Subsidiary

    How Chevron U.S. Monitors, Controls, and Directs Its Subsidiary in Nigeria Chevron is “an international company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates engages in fully integrated petroleum operations, chemical operations and coal mining in the United…

  5. Bowoto v. Chevron: Human Rights Litigation

    Fall 2008, CCR's landmark human rights case, Bowoto v. Chevron, is set for trial in both federal and state courts in San Francisco. Chevron has been charged with gross human rights abuses arising from its…

  6. Bowoto v. Chevron: First They Poisoned Our Land, When We Protested, They Shot Us

    CCR's Bowoto v. Chevron case arises from simple facts: On May 28, 1998, Chevron participated in the murder, shooting and subsequent torture of Nigerian villagers engaging in environmental protest against the oil giant. Chevron paid…

  7. Factsheet: Extraordinary Rendition

    In 2002, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained at a U.S. airport on his way home from a family trip. He was interrogated by U.S. officials about alleged links to al-Qaeda and was…

  8. Factsheet: The Case Against Royal Dutch/Shell

    On November 10, 1995, nine Ogoni leaders (the “Ogoni 9”) were executed by the Nigerian government after being falsely accused of murder and tried by a specially created military tribunal. Those executed included world…

  9. Factsheet: Qana and Belhas v. Ya'alon

    On April 18, 1996, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shelled a United Nations (UN) compound in Qana, Lebanon, killing over 100 civilians and wounding hundred more. Approximately 800 civilians has sought refuge in the compound…

  10. Al Odah v. United States Legal Arguments and Implications

    Petitioners in Al Odah argue that the precedent set by the Supreme Court itself in Rasul v. Bush in 2004 precludes the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ conclusion that Guantanamo detainees have no common law…

  11. Here Come the Thought Police: The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

    Could Rosa Parks, who was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 for violating segregation laws by sitting in the white-only section of a bus and refusing to move, be considered a “homegrown terrorist” by the…

  12. Factsheet: The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA)

    In November 2006, Congress passed and the President signed into law the AETA. Proponents of the bill, including animal-exploiting industry groups, corporations and the politicians that represent them, pushed for the passage of AETA…

  13. Habeas Petitions and Habeas Counsel

    Since the first habeas corpus petition for detainees was filed on February 19, 2002, CCR has helped coordinate a movement of over 500 pro bono attorneys who have filed habeas petitions for more than…

  14. FAQs: Prison Phone Rates

    Q: Why should we lower the rates? If people in prison don’t want expensive calls, they should not break the law. A: People in prison do not pay for the collect calls. That burden falls to…

  15. FAQs: Does the U.S. Torture People?

    In the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the United States ratified in 1994, torture is defined as "any act by which severe pain or suffering,…

  16. FAQs: Resettlement and Refugees at Guantanamo

    EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND THE REFUGEE CRISIS AT GUANTÁNAMO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS NEED FOR HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION 1. How many men detained in Guantánamo cannot safely return to their home countries? The total number of prisoners known to fear return…

  17. FAQs: What Are State Secrets

    Post-9/11, the Bush administration has expanded the use of the state secrets privilege (SSP) to withhold evidence and dismiss cases that challenge the administration in U.S. courts. In doing so, the Bush administration is threatening…

  18. Factsheet: Military Commissions

    On November 13, 2001, President Bush issued an executive order which purported to establish military commissions to try those captured in the “War on Terror.” Under the order, the President authorized trials by military commission upon a presidential…

  19. FAQs: The Military Commisions Act

    The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) is a massive legislative assault on fundamental rights, including the right to habeas corpus – the right to challenge one’s detention in a court of law. Signed into…

  20. FAQs: What Is Habeas Corpus

    Habeas corpus, or the Great Writ, is the legal procedure that keeps the government from holding you indefinitely without showing cause. When you challenge your detention by filing a habeas corpus petition, the executive branch…

  21. FAQs: What Are Ghost Detentions and Black Sites

    Soon after September 11, reports began appearing that people were being picked up around the world and held by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). These people weren’t being held by their own countries’ intelligence or…

  22. Factsheet: Home Demolitions and Caterpillar

    Since its occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem following the 1967 war, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has destroyed more than 18,000 Palestinian homes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).…

  23. Factsheet: Corporate Exploitation and the Prison System

    Since 1999, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has been fighting on the ground and in the courts to end the exploitative telephone contract between New York State and MCI/Verizon which charged family members 630…

  24. Factsheet: Alien Tort Statute

    The Alien Tort Statute

  25. Factsheet: Material Support

    Material support refers to types of humanitarian and First Amendment activity that have been criminalized by the U.S. government. Both pre-and post-9/11, statutory restrictions were placed on providing support, including humanitarian aid, expert advice, and…