As NCRR’s concern for our own civil liberties increased, so did our shock at the continued abuses of prisoners and innocent people of Iraq. In October 2005, the NCRR September 11 Committee organized a week-long speaking tour for Chaplain James Yee, the Chinese Muslim chaplain who had written a book, “For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.” He has been charged with spying and possession of pornography after serving at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His duties were not only to minister to the religious needs of the detainees but also to recommend changes that would help the prison run more smoothly.

He worked with the high command, including Major General Geoffrey Miller of Abu Graib fame and was given high evaluations, yet he was charged with espionage and thrown into prison for 76 days. Eventually all the charges were dropped but his military career was destroyed. Chaplain Yee spoke to college campuses and to an overflow crowd in Little Tokyo who learned about the abuses at Guantanamo and the fact that many of these prisoners had committed no crimes, yet were being held without the right to an attorney or a trial.