The White House is reportedly considering whether to allow the indefinite detention without trial of some of the detainees held at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay.The Washington Post newspaper reported on Saturday that the Obama administration was "drafting" an executive order that could see some suspects kept in confinement in the US or elsewhere.
An unnamed administration official confirmed to the AFP news agency that internal deliberations were taking place on how to deal with those inmates that they felt could not be released or tried in civilian courts.
In a statement on Friday, Mitch McConnell, the senate Republican leader, said that any plans to transfer prisoners to the US or hold them there would only be approved once details of how they would work had been provided.
"Bipartisan majorities of congress and the American people oppose closing Guantanamo without a plan, and several important questions remain unanswered," he said.
McConnell said Obama had demanded the transfers "before the administration even has a place to put the detainees who are housed there, any plan for military commissions, or any articulated plan for indefinite detention".
There are 229 detainees still being held at Guantanamo, but Eric Holder, the US attorney-general, told congress last week that fewer than 25 per cent, or 60, were likely to be charged, while 50 others have been cleared for transfer or release.
Officials say that some of them cannot be prosecuted because evidence against them is either classified, was provided by foreign intelligence services or was obtained through harsh interrogation techniques.
Civil rights advocates have said that any order permitting indefinite detention would see the Obama administration returning to the harmful policies of George Bush, his predecessor.
"Prolonged imprisonment without trial is exactly the Guantanamo system that the president promised to shut down," Shayana Kadidal, a senior attorney for the Centre for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement.
"If the last eight years have taught us anything, it's that executive overreach, left to continue unchecked for many years, has a tendency to harden into precedent."
Source: Al Jazeera
Kudos for the Obama administration for realizing some of the Gitmo “guests” are dangerous terrorists but closing Gitmo is a mistake.
Since Bernard Madoff is apparently not going to Club Fed, he might went to be sent to Club Gitmo instead. He would have live with his cable TV having the Al Jazeera channel on it.
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