WASHINGTON — A recommendation by a US government agency for an indefinite detention of dozens Guantanamo detainees is drawing rebukes from civil liberty groups for turning pledges to close the detention camp into empty words. "Just as important as closing the prison quickly is closing it right,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement cited by the BBC News Online on Saturday, January 23.
“And that means putting an end to the illegal policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial."
A Justice Department-led task force recommended Friday to release 110 Guantanamo detainees and prosecuting 35 others in federal and military courts.
The panel, formed to study how to deal with the detainees before the camp closure, also suggested holding the remaining 50 detainees indefinitely.
"This practice was wrong in Cuba and would remain so here, reducing the closure of Guantanamo to a symbolic gesture," Romero said.
The recommendation came as the Obama administration on Friday missed a one-year deadline to close the notorious detention camp.
Opened in 2002 by the Bush administration, the US has been holding terror suspects in the camp, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights.
There have been reports of degrading and sadistic treatment of detainees at the infamous detention centre, which has been globally condemned as a stain on America's human rights record.
Unreliable
The rights group challenged the government claim that some of the detainees pose grave threats to the US security if released.
"If there is credible evidence that these prisoners are dangerous, there is no reason why that evidence could not be introduced against them in criminal trials," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project.
Jaffer urged the Obama administration to either release the detainees or put them on trial before civilian courts.
"The criminal laws, and the material support laws in particular, are broad enough to reach anyone who presents a serious threat,” he said.
“The federal courts are fully capable of affording defendants fair trials while protecting the government's legitimate interest in protecting information that is properly classified."
The Obama administration on Friday withdrew charges against five detainees accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, paving the way for their trial before a civilian court in New York.
The move came one day after Washington transferred two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria.
Jaffer said the Obama administration fears that the evidence against the detainees would not stand up in the US courts.
"Our justice system excludes coerced evidence not only because coercion and torture are illegal, but because coerced evidence is unreliable,” he said.
"If evidence is too unreliable to justify detention after criminal trial, it is certainly too unreliable to justify indefinite detention without trial."
Source: IslamOnline
“And that means putting an end to the illegal policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial."
A Justice Department-led task force recommended Friday to release 110 Guantanamo detainees and prosecuting 35 others in federal and military courts.
The panel, formed to study how to deal with the detainees before the camp closure, also suggested holding the remaining 50 detainees indefinitely.
"This practice was wrong in Cuba and would remain so here, reducing the closure of Guantanamo to a symbolic gesture," Romero said.
The recommendation came as the Obama administration on Friday missed a one-year deadline to close the notorious detention camp.
Opened in 2002 by the Bush administration, the US has been holding terror suspects in the camp, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights.
There have been reports of degrading and sadistic treatment of detainees at the infamous detention centre, which has been globally condemned as a stain on America's human rights record.
Unreliable
The rights group challenged the government claim that some of the detainees pose grave threats to the US security if released.
"If there is credible evidence that these prisoners are dangerous, there is no reason why that evidence could not be introduced against them in criminal trials," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project.
Jaffer urged the Obama administration to either release the detainees or put them on trial before civilian courts.
"The criminal laws, and the material support laws in particular, are broad enough to reach anyone who presents a serious threat,” he said.
“The federal courts are fully capable of affording defendants fair trials while protecting the government's legitimate interest in protecting information that is properly classified."
The Obama administration on Friday withdrew charges against five detainees accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, paving the way for their trial before a civilian court in New York.
The move came one day after Washington transferred two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria.
Jaffer said the Obama administration fears that the evidence against the detainees would not stand up in the US courts.
"Our justice system excludes coerced evidence not only because coercion and torture are illegal, but because coerced evidence is unreliable,” he said.
"If evidence is too unreliable to justify detention after criminal trial, it is certainly too unreliable to justify indefinite detention without trial."
Source: IslamOnline
