[Vision2020] President Obama Temporarily Suspends Gitmo Prosecutions

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of CNN at

http://tinyurl.com/ObamaSuspendsGitmo
 
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Obama calls for halt to Gitmo prosecutions

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (CNN) -- In one of his first acts in office President 
Obama has ordered the U.S. government to suspend prosecutions of prisoners 
at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days, military officials said Tuesday.

Papers filed at the U.S. prison camp said the request is made "in the 
interest of justice and at the direction of the president of the United 
States." It seeks a delay in proceedings until May 20.

"The judges will receive the requests and review them, and we anticipate a 
ruling soon," said Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman. 

Tuesday's directive was issued verbally through Defense Secretary Bob 
Gates, according to a military official. 

Obama had vowed to close the naval prison at the U.S. base. While Obama's 
order does not go that far, it will stop the prosecutions of 21 detainees 
currently facing war crimes charges.

Jamil Dakwar, a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union at 
the base, called the move "a good step in the right direction." Gabor 
Rona, an observer for Human Rights Watch, also called the order "a first 
step."

"The very fact that it's one of his first acts reflects a sense of urgency 
that the U.S. cannot afford one more day of counterproductive and illegal 
proceedings in the fight against terrorism," said Rona, who was in Cuba to 
watch the proceedings scheduled this week.  

Before midnight, prosecutors in two of the 14 currently active cases had 
filed paperwork asking judges to grant the 120-day continuance. The 
military official said prosecutors in all ongoing cases are expected to 
file similar requests Wednesday.

Among those facing trial at Guantanamo Bay is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 
confessed organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and 
Washington. A hearing in Mohammed's case was scheduled for Wednesday, and 
Tuesday night's order is expected to be discussed at that time, the 
military official told CNN.

Earlier Tuesday, the judge overseeing pretrial hearings for a 22-year-old 
prisoner facing trial for the killing of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan 
hinted at the uncertain future for the case in an Obama administration.

"We will reconvene tomorrow, unless otherwise ordered by the commission," 
Judge Pat Parrish told those in the courtroom.

The military prison, set up by the Bush administration in 2002, has become 
a major issue because critics argue it has become a symbol of 
mismanagement and overreach in the war on terror.

Human and legal rights advocates complained that many of the detainees 
were being held indefinitely although there were no criminal charges filed 
against them.

Dakwar said the ACLU believes all charges against the prisoners should be 
dropped.

"A shutdown of this discredited system is warranted," he said. 

The prison camp currently holds about 245 inmates. Officials said nearly 
60 detainees have been cleared for release, but no country has agreed to 
take them.

Reports of mistreatment of detainees led many, including Obama, to argue 
that the facility was not ineffective in dealing with alleged enemy 
combatants or for gathering good intelligence.

The retired judge in charge of determining which prisoners should face 
trial told The Washington Post last week that she refused to send one 
prisoner before the tribunals because "his treatment met the legal 
definition of torture." 

At his final White House press conference on January 12, Bush was asked 
whether the military prison and harsh interrogation tactics have damaged 
America's standing in the world. 

"I strongly disagree with the assessment that our moral standing has been 
damaged," he said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But 
people still understand America stands for freedom; that America is a 
country that provides such great hope." 

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And it hasn't even been 24 hours yet.

God bless America!

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"For a lapsed Lutheran born-again Buddhist pan-Humanist Universalist 
Unitarian Wiccan Agnostic like myself there's really no reason ever to go 
to work."

- Roy Zimmerman


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