Guantanamo Bay
Obama creates indefinite detention system for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay P...
Obama creates indefinite detention system for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay
President Obama signed an executive order Monday that will create a formal system of indefinite detention for those held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who continue to pose a significant threat to national security. The administration also said it will start new military commission trials for detainees there. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/07/AR2011030704871.html?hpid=topnews
Obama signs law hindering efforts to empty Guantanamo US President Barack ...
Obama signs law hindering efforts to empty Guantanamo
US President Barack Obama has signed a law effectively preventing him from emptying the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In a statement, Mr Obama said he opposed the restrictions but signed them because they were included in a law funding the US military in 2011.
The law forbids him using military funds to transfer Guantanamo inmates to the US, where they could face trial.
Mr Obama pledged in January 2009 to close the facility within a year.
He missed that deadline amid bipartisan opposition to the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to the US, and their prosecution in civilian courts, and difficulties in finding other countries willing to receive inmates cleared for release.
In a statement accompanying his signing of the bill, Mr Obama condemned the strictures, saying they would hamper his ability to prosecute terror suspects, undermine counter-terrorism efforts and hinder the delicate negotiations involved in transferring detainees out of the prison.
"The prosecution of terrorists in federal court is a powerful tool in our efforts to protect the nation and must be among the options available to us," Mr Obama said.
"Any attempt to deprive the executive branch of that tool undermines our nation's counter-terrorism efforts and has the potential to harm our national security."
Fierce opposition
The law specifically names Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the 11 September, 2001 terror attacks.
The Obama administration sought to try Mr Mohammed in federal court in New York City, but withdrew the plan amid fierce opposition from New York officials.
The first Guantanamo Bay detainee tried in federal court, Ahmed Ghailani, was found guilty in November of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives but acquitted on 284 other charges.