[Peace-discuss] Dem-controlled Senate blocks Obama's Gitmo closure

[C. G. Estabrook]

It's as if there were a debate in Germany in 1947 about what to do with Poles 
whom Germany had held since the 1939 invasion...

And then the German courts decide that the German government can hold them as 
long as it wanted, without charge or trial:

	US Can Hold Gitmo Detainees Indefinitely, Judge Says
	NEDRA PICKLER | May 20, 2009 11:05 AM EST |

WASHINGTON — A federal judge says the United States can continue to hold some 
prisoners at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely without any charges.

U.S. District Judge John Bates' opinion issued Tuesday night limited the Obama 
administration's definition of who can be held. But he said Congress in the days 
after Sept. 11, 2001 gave the president the authority to hold anyone involved in 
planning, aiding or carrying out the terrorist attacks.

Bates' opinion comes amid increasing debate over whether President Barack Obama 
is going to release anyone from Guantanamo. Obama has promised to close the 
prison by January, but Senate Democrats say they will block the move until he 
comes up with a plan for the detainees.

Bates' opinion came in the case of several Guantanamo prisoners who are 
challenging their detention. ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz said the opinion 
"flouts the Constitution's prohibition against indefinite detention without charge."

"The decision wrongly concludes that terrorism suspects at Guantanamo may 
continue to languish in military detention rather than being prosecuted in our 
civilian courts," Hafetz said. "Like the president's recent decision to revive 
military commissions, this ruling perpetuates rather than ends the failed 
experiment in lawlessness that is Guantanamo."

Earlier this year, Bates ordered the Obama administration to give its definition 
of whom the United States can continue to hold at Guantanamo. The administration 
responded with a definition that was largely similar to the Bush 
administration's, drawing criticism from human rights advocates.

In his opinion, Bates said he agreed with the Obama administration that "the 
president has the authority to detain persons that the president determines 
planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on 
September 11, 2001, and persons who harbored those responsible for those attacks.

"The president also has the authority to detain persons who are or were part of 
Taliban or al-Qaida forces or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities 
against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who 
has committed (i.e., directly participated in) a belligerent act in aid of such 
enemy armed forces," Bates wrote.

But he said the Obama administration went beyond the law of war by including in 
its definition those who "supported" enemy forces.

"The court can find no authority in domestic law or the law of war, nor can the 
government point to any, to justify the concept of 'support' as a valid ground 
for detention," Bates wrote.

Last month, Bates ruled that prisoners at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan can 
challenge their detention, for the first time extending rights given to 
Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere in the world.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/20/us-can-hold-gitmo-detaine_n_205752.html



Ricky Baldwin wrote:
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_guantanamo
> 
> Of course, we'd agree that these prisoners shouldn't be brought to US 
> prisons.  The penalty on a state that holds people this long without 
> trial is that the prisoners go free.  But Congress is well to the right 
> of the President on this one, which can't be good.  Ugh!
>  
> Ricky
> 
> "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn
> 
> 
> 
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