The following is being issued by the Juvenile Law Center:

WHAT: Children's and human rights activists, scholars, advocates and professionals who work with youth condemn the Bush administration's prosecution of child soldier Omar Khadr under the Military Commissions Act. They call on President-Elect Obama to immediately halt the trial upon assuming office on January 20th until the facts can be further reviewed. Absent prompt action, Omar Khadr's fatally flawed military trial will start on January 26th -- just six days after the new administration takes office. Citing violations of international law, U.S. law, the psychological effects of mistreatment, and mounting evidence of Omar's innocence on the most serious charge he faces, representatives from these professions will issue a joint statement and provide a copy of a letter sent to both President Bush and President-Elect Obama. This will take place at a press conference on Monday in Washington, D.C.

WHEN: 10:00 AM

Monday, January 12, 2009

WHERE: The Murrow Room

National Press Club

529 14th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20045

WHO: Marsha Levick, Legal Director, Juvenile Law Center

LtGen the Hon. Romeo A. Dallaire, (Ret'd), Canadian Senator

Ishmael Beah, Former Sierra Leone Child Soldier

David Fassler, M.D. Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine

David M. Crane, Professor Syracuse University College of Law, Former Chief Prosecutor of the Sierra Leone International War Crimes Tribunal

Patricia Puritz, Executive Director, National Juvenile Defender Center