US President Barack Obama has given the go ahead for trials to resume at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba. Washington officials insist the president is still determined to close the "war on terror facility", but critics accuse him of going back on his election pledge to stop military prosecutions at the prison and close it within a year.
By Richard Walker
One hundred and seventy two prisoners remain at Guantanamo Bay, many of them have been incarcerated there for several years without trial, proper access to legal advice or other basic rights gauranteed under American law.
Why resume trials at Guantanamo?
The Obama administration has struggled to justify the huge costs involved in trying suspected terrorists on the US mainland. The estimated price tag for bringing the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to trial in New York was $400 million.
In addition to expense, security issues have remained a grave concern. Some feared that bringing alleged Al Qaeda bombers to courtrooms in Washington and New York would open those cities up to attack once more.
President Obama has left the door open for trials to take place on federal soil but Geert-Jan Knoops, a Dutch specialist in international law and legal adviser to President Obama, says , "the reality is very clear, there will be no federal trials in the near future".
This means that despite concerns about their lack of transparancy and less stringent rules of evidence, trials at Guantanamo will resume.
The hidden reason
The standard of proof in federal courts is much higher than at military commissions.
According to Geert-Jan Knoops, this "creates a huge legal risk for prosecutions... and although it's not being mentioned explicitly, this is also indirectly an argument among politicians not to have these trials on the mainland before a federal court - they're simply afraid there is insufficient evidence for convictions."
Any change since Bush?
Supporters of the Obama administration fear what this could do to the image of the President as a champion of democracy and fair treatment around the world.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has published a statement claiming that today's move does embrace the rule of law and that America's enemies will be treated with all proper international guarantees.
Geert-Jan Knoops disagrees, for "the Arabic world," he says, “this will reinforce the idea that the US is treating certain suspects without fair trial guarantees... (and that)... basically, not much has changed since George Bush".
Hypocrisy in the criticism
Many in Europe will criticise President Obama for failing to deliver on his first election promise. But according to Geert-Jan Knoops, who has advised Mr Obama on how to proceed with Guantanamo Bay, the European Union needs to step in and help.
His assessment is that nobody is volunteering to support the US in dealing with the camp, and that without international political will, the system at Guantanamo Bay will remain the same.
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Obama has shown himself a traitor to his race and its origins. We have to bring him down. The world no longer accepts traitors of this caliber. We must fight for real democracy in the world, overthrowing this formal democracy and hypocritical. Let us end the re-election in the world, source of all corruption.
Obama has shown himself a traitor to his race and its origins. We have to bring him down. The world no longer accepts traitors of this caliber. We must fight for real democracy in the world, overthrowing this formal democracy and hypocritical. Let us end the re-election in the world, source of all corruption.
The is an excellent example of exactly why I find BHO so disingenuous.
Two things could be said to be implicitly clear here;
(1) He internally believed that he could close Gitmo just because he was now the president. Such a simplistic view of the situation calls his mental prowess into question. If he so clearly did not understand the situation Gitmo presented, how many OTHER issues are equally beyond his comprehension?
(2) If he internally understood that he probably could not close Gitmo, but went ahead anyway with this knowledge, then he was lying to the American people. And…he lied to ensure that he was seen as a figure that catered to popular opinion to enhance his position with the press and those voting for him.
Both clearly underscore my concerns; he is either inept OR he lies to gain advantage.
It's sad that this grey zone for justice and human rights is to continue. But domestic politics preclude any alternative. My bet is that future generations of Americans will more greatly lament the death of cap and trade legislation. Or the lack of existence of a health care program that compares to the rest of the developed world.
Though the smartest president in a long while, Obama doesn't have a lot of wins on his scoresheet. Too bad that whole 'post-partisan' thing didn't work out. I'm sure many will put the blame squarely on immigrant/ Islamic/ Mexican/ BP execs/ union member/ Canadians.
It isn't Guantanamo - HE is the biggest failure. Talk about deceiving.
Mr. Obama now "owns" this vile Bush practice. I can now say that I have grave doubts about why I vioted for him in 2008. His government appears to be just as fear motivated as Mr. Bush. Instead of standing for the ideals of our Constitution, Mr. Obama has bought into the Republican style of fear and hate.It is a shame he has gone back on his promise to us and to the world community.
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