rssWhy Not Just Keep GTMO Open?
Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:49 am
- 15 Comments
The Obama administration’s Guantanamo task force has concluded that there are approximately 50 detainees held at the facility in Cuba that the government should continue to detain, indefinitely, without trial. Either the task force reached that decision in Month 11 out of its 12-month operation or a senior administration official on a conference call in December passed along some incorrect information.
All this raises the question of how the powers claimed by the Bush admin– oh, sorry, the Obama administration to detain someone indefinitely can withstand a legal challenge. The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that Guantanamo detainees have a right to habeas corpus, a decision that removed the last argument for keeping the detention facility open as a venue for holding someone without charge. Obama plans to move the remaining detainees to the Thomson Correction Center in Illinois. Does the administration expect the courts to suddenly determine that the Constitution of the United States applies less to Illinois than it does to a naval base in Cuba? The cynical view is that the administration is looking to the courts to take the political heat of determining that the detainees must either be charged in some venue — civilian trials or military commissions — or released.
But the administration still needs Congress to provide the money for it to purchase Thomson. It plans to go to Congress at some point and say, “We need money to close one facility used for indefinite detention and purchase … well, another facility we plan to use for, among other things, indefinite detention. And we’re going to start that facility over from scratch!” Why would Congress approve that money?
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15 Comments
Pingback posted January 22, 2010 @ 9:25 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TMC Member Feed, nwease. nwease said: Why Not Just Keep GTMO Open? « The Washington Independent http://bit.ly/8m1I4k [...]
Pingback posted January 22, 2010 @ 11:30 am
[...] Ackerman rounds up the latest on constitutional rights for human beings: The Obama administration’s Guantanamo task force has concluded that there are approximately 50 [...]
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 11:46 am
Obama mentioned the possibility of declaring some detainees “prisoners of war” although none of them technically meet the definition under the Geneva Conventions. He used the example of, say, a Taliban leader captured in battle.
Prisoner of war status would mean the detainees could be held without a trial until the war is over and no trial would be necessary because they are considered soldiers, not criminals. Normally, and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, such people are also not TREATED as criminals, and are supposed to be held under conditions and in circumstances that reflect that. It wouldn't include locking them up in the regular jail system. In fact, if Guantanamo has been reformed, as claimed, keeping them there could be more appropriate. Keeping such detainees under humane conditions would, of course, offend the revenge seekers who would prefer that they punished, even tortured, indefinitely, or murdered.
The other issue is when, if ever, this particular war can be considered over. It might be when/if the detainee is considered to have renounced “jihad” however that might be determined.
It would make more sense to me to treat the Canadian, Omar Khadr, who was fifteen when captured after a fight with US soldiers in Afghanistan this way, with consideration being given to his age and how he was involved in Al Quaeda (by his father) in accordance with international laws pertaining to “child soldiers”. Such laws require an emphasis on rehabilitation.
Instead, the Obama Administration is following in Bush's footsteps by charging the then 15 year old who has been incarcerated for over seven years with war crimes, a highly unusual and disgusting move. And they are putting him back into the discredited military commission system besides. The only hope is that perhaps this time exculpatory evidence wont be hidden by the government as happened previously. But, at this point, it's a faint hope.
Pingback posted January 22, 2010 @ 2:28 pm
[...] about 50 of the Gitmo detainees locked up indefinitely, but he comes to the only logical conclusion Gitmo should stay open. All this raises the question of how the powers claimed by the Bush admin– oh, sorry, the Obama [...]
Pingback posted January 22, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
[...] Why Not Just Keep GTMO Open? « The Washington Independent [...]
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 5:48 pm
As of right now detainees currently can only be brought to Thomson for trial and not for indefinite detention.
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 10:48 pm
As of right now detainees currently can only be brought to Thomson for trial and not for indefinite detention.
Pingback posted January 22, 2010 @ 11:20 pm
[...] Why Not Just Keep GTMO Open? « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted January 23, 2010 @ 1:35 am
[...] original post here: Why Not Just Keep GTMO Open? « The Washington Independent Share and [...]
Pingback posted January 25, 2010 @ 9:50 am
[...] Washington Independent: Why Not Just Keep GTMO Open? Spencer Ackerman – 1/22/2010 [...]
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