GITMO To Be Closed In One Year
- Thread starter fatman17
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CAIRO As widely expected, US President Barack Obama will order on Thursday, January 22, the closure of the notorious Guantanamo camp as well as secret prisons operated by the CIA within a year.
"The detention facilities at Guantanamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order," reads the draft order posted on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website.
Government officials said Obama will also order an immediate case-by-case review of the 245 detainees held at Guantanamo to determine if they should be released, transferred or prosecuted.
A few hours after his inauguration, Obama asked for the suspension of military trials for Guantanamo detainees, a request approved by the judges.
The new order provides for a diplomatic offensive to transfer some of the detainees, including more than 60 cleared by Bush administration for release.
It also stipulates an immediate assessment of Guantanamo itself to ensure the detainees are held in conditions that meet the humanitarian requirements of the Geneva Convention.
The US has been holding hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo for years, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights under the American legal system.
The camp has for years been criticized by international watchdogs and rights icons for operating outside the law, amid reports of torture and rights abuses.
CIA Prisons
Government officials said Obama will also ask the CIA to shut its network of secret prisons and prohibit coercive interrogation techniques, according to the New York Times.
A government official said Obama's order on the secret prisons would still allow CIA agents to temporarily detain terror suspects and transfer them to other agencies, but would no longer allow the agency to carry out long-term detentions.
The CIA built a network of secret prisons abroad in 2002 to hold terror suspects.
The exact number of suspects to have moved through the ghost prisons is unknown, although former CIA chief Michael V. Hayden put the number at "fewer than 100."
Obama's orders won plaudits from human rights groups.
"This is the first ray of sunlight in what has been eight long years of darkness, of trampling on America's treasured values of justice and due process," ACLU said in a statement.
"The order is remarkable in its timing and its clear intent to close down Guantanamo and unequivocally halt the Bush administration's shameful military commissions."
Human Rights Watch also applauded the order.
"With the stroke of a pen, President Obama will make great progress toward restoring America's moral authority," said Jennifer Daskal, HRW senior counterterrorism counsel.
"By shutting down a global symbol of abuse, he will deprive terrorists of a powerful recruitment too
"The detention facilities at Guantanamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order," reads the draft order posted on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website.
Government officials said Obama will also order an immediate case-by-case review of the 245 detainees held at Guantanamo to determine if they should be released, transferred or prosecuted.
A few hours after his inauguration, Obama asked for the suspension of military trials for Guantanamo detainees, a request approved by the judges.
The new order provides for a diplomatic offensive to transfer some of the detainees, including more than 60 cleared by Bush administration for release.
It also stipulates an immediate assessment of Guantanamo itself to ensure the detainees are held in conditions that meet the humanitarian requirements of the Geneva Convention.
The US has been holding hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo for years, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights under the American legal system.
The camp has for years been criticized by international watchdogs and rights icons for operating outside the law, amid reports of torture and rights abuses.
CIA Prisons
Government officials said Obama will also ask the CIA to shut its network of secret prisons and prohibit coercive interrogation techniques, according to the New York Times.
A government official said Obama's order on the secret prisons would still allow CIA agents to temporarily detain terror suspects and transfer them to other agencies, but would no longer allow the agency to carry out long-term detentions.
The CIA built a network of secret prisons abroad in 2002 to hold terror suspects.
The exact number of suspects to have moved through the ghost prisons is unknown, although former CIA chief Michael V. Hayden put the number at "fewer than 100."
Obama's orders won plaudits from human rights groups.
"This is the first ray of sunlight in what has been eight long years of darkness, of trampling on America's treasured values of justice and due process," ACLU said in a statement.
"The order is remarkable in its timing and its clear intent to close down Guantanamo and unequivocally halt the Bush administration's shameful military commissions."
Human Rights Watch also applauded the order.
"With the stroke of a pen, President Obama will make great progress toward restoring America's moral authority," said Jennifer Daskal, HRW senior counterterrorism counsel.
"By shutting down a global symbol of abuse, he will deprive terrorists of a powerful recruitment too
roadrunner
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Where's he going to send the detainees?
roadrunner
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Let's not get carried away now.
It is in the US's interests to close Gitmo. It is not doing it any image favours.
Bush could have closed it - why wait for Obama to?
Let's see what Obama does about foreign policy, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuala, Palestine, Iran, the world, basically. That is the important stuff.
It is in the US's interests to close Gitmo. It is not doing it any image favours.
Bush could have closed it - why wait for Obama to?
Let's see what Obama does about foreign policy, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuala, Palestine, Iran, the world, basically. That is the important stuff.
jeypore
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In Maximum security American Jails.
roadrunner
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What's the difference then?
jeypore
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Big difference, for one no torturing is allowed, other is that they get 3 square meal a day, and 1 hour outside time.
roadrunner
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^^ You're assuming they're all guilty. Closing Guantanomo won't do anything. They need to be tried in a court of law.
Regardless, I want to see his foreign policy. Guantanomo is important, but I feel it's just a distraction. The bigger issue is his foreign policy.
Have you ever been in a US jail, btw?
Regardless, I want to see his foreign policy. Guantanomo is important, but I feel it's just a distraction. The bigger issue is his foreign policy.
Have you ever been in a US jail, btw?
waraich66
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Great news, first step towards restoration of image of US .
We hoped US will also retrieve forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and stop support of Israel for violation of international laws.
US is nation of different nations muslims ,cristians, jews and non believers ,power of US lies in help for restoration world peace not destruction of world peace through WARS of Iraq and Afghanistan.
We hoped US will also retrieve forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and stop support of Israel for violation of international laws.
US is nation of different nations muslims ,cristians, jews and non believers ,power of US lies in help for restoration world peace not destruction of world peace through WARS of Iraq and Afghanistan.
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roadrunner
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^^ I wouldn't hold your breath for that.
To civilian courts and jails. The right way to do this in my opinion.
Xeric
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This prison was made OUTSIDE the US just for the sole reason so that the prisoners there can't be covered under the Humane laws of the US.
Being outside the country no one can claim that the international law are not being followed in that prison. Therefore much can't be voiced if there is some violation of Human Rights inside the Bay.
i think you people don't know that the detainees at Guantanamo were classified as enemy combatants and were not accorded the status of prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
More over, in December 2005 the U.S. Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act, which provided that no court, justice, or judge would have jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus petitions filed by Guantanamo detainees.
Meaning thereby that the prisoners inside the Bay were at the complete mercy of the Americans, they could and have been doing what ever they wanted with them, now if the prisoners are moved to the normal prisons inside the US, ostensibly one can say that those prisoners might get some relief.
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