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Gilma Camargo is a lawyer for the pro-Castro Center for Constitutional Rights, which was formed by longtime members of the Communist Party in the United States. The CCR characterizes itself as an organization that "uses litigation proactively to advance the law in a positive direction, to guarantee the rights of those with the fewest protections and least access to legal resources." Among those whom the CCR counts as largely "unprotected" are terrorist organizations and illegal immigrants. In the post-9/11 era, the CCR has focused its efforts heavily on reining in the U.S. government's newly implemented anti-terrorism measures, which the CCR depicts as having "seriously undermined civil liberties, the checks and balances that are essential to the structure of our democratic government, and indeed, democracy itself." At its 2004 annual convention, the CCR honored its member Lynne Stewart, an open supporter of terrorism who was indicted by the Justice Department for abetting the terrorist activities of her client, the "blind sheik," Omar Abdel Rahman. Rahman was the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and numerous other planned acts of terrorism in the U.S. Following the 9/11 attacks, Camargo sought to legally represent individuals with suspected terrorist ties. One of her clients, Palestinian activist Faruk Abdel-Muhti, was arrested in New York; Abdel-Muhti is a coordinator for the Palestinian National Alliance, and has made threats against the U.S. and Israel. Born in Panama, Camargo has also served as a member of the National Lawyers' Guild delegation to Panama, and is a member of the La Alternativa Committee for Panama. Moreover, she is the president of the American Association of Jurists.
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