[Peace-discuss] Inter Press Service: U.S. Towns Open Doors to Cleared Gitmo Prisoners

[Robert Naiman]

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51560

U.S. Towns Open Doors to Cleared Gitmo Prisoners

William Fisher

NEW YORK, May 24 (IPS) - As Congress stiffens its resistance to moving
any Guantánamo prisoners anywhere near the continental U.S., some
communities are putting out the welcome mat.

Through an organisation called No More Guantánamos, two New England
towns have voted to welcome detainees who have been cleared for
release, and similar actions are being planned in other locations.

In late April, voters at a town meeting in Leverett, Massachusetts
overwhelmingly approved a resolution welcoming "one or two" cleared
Guantánamo Bay detainees to the community once Congress lifts its
current ban.

Leverett thus became the second U.S. municipality to make it known
that it would welcome Guantánamo detainees. Its resolution is
identical to one approved in November 2009 by town meeting members in
nearby Amherst, Massachusetts.

Leverett is a town in western Massachusetts with a population of
1,663, according to the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield
metro area.

Amherst is a much larger town, with a population of more than 35,000.
It is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University
of Massachusetts Amherst. It was also the home of famed U.S. poet
Emily Dickinson, who was known as "The Belle of Amherst".

Nancy Talanian, executive director of No More Guantánamos, told IPS
that there was very little local opposition in either of the towns.
"The main opposition that Amherst town officials experienced came from
outside the community, from right-wing talk radio and the
blogosphere," she said.

Congress has left no doubt that it regards the movement of any
Guantánamo prisoner to the continental U.S. as one of the most highly
charged third rails in politics. It has imposed strict rules on the
Barack Obama administration regarding bringing Guantánamo prisoners to
the U.S. - even for trial.

And it has effectively stalled the administration's plans to purchase
a prison in Illinois to house prisoners now in custody at Guantánamo.

Congress reiterated that position last week when the House Armed
Services Committee unanimously approved a defence bill for 2011 that
bans spending money to build or modify any facility inside the United
States to house Guantánamo detainees.

Guantánamo detainees have been largely successful in appealing their
detentions to federal district court, which has ordered 75 percent of
appellants to be released. But the U.S. military continues to hold
them because an appeals court has ruled that releasing them into the
U.S. involves immigration law, over which federal judges have no
jurisdiction.

At the same time, the U.S. continues to negotiate with other countries
to accept prisoners it has cleared for release.

With Guantánamo's promised closing effectively stalled by Congress,
why is No More Guantánamos actively promoting municipal resolutions
offering homes?

"It's important for the world to know that there are many community
groups who take seriously their responsibility to promote justice for
their fellow human beings," Talanian told IPS. "For years, we were
told that all the prisoners held at Guantánamo were the worst of the
worst. Now we know that was not true."

She added, "The Bush and Obama administrations and federal courts have
already freed nearly 600 men who passed through that facility. Many of
the 100 remaining men whom the government has cleared for transfer
have been held for more than eight years without being charged with
any crime. We are prepared to accept our government's verdict that
these men pose no threat to the United States."

"Without cooperation from U.S. communities and Congress, the
long-awaited plan to close Guantánamo may not succeed," she said.

She noted that Congress's "not-in-our-backyard" ban stands in the way
of encouraging international cooperation in closing the prison.

"Guantánamo detainees who cannot safely return home are really no
different than other refugees whom western Massachusetts communities
have welcomed in the past," she said.

No More Guantánamos has additional chapters in Raleigh-Durham, North
Carolina; New York City; Denver, Colorado; and Tallahassee, Florida,
and other chapters currently forming, she added.

Talanian founded the Bill of Rights Defence Committee (BORDC), a
grassroots not-profit advocating for the rule of law, and was its
executive director through 2008.

No More Guantánamos describes itself as "a coalition of concerned U.S.
residents, communities, organisations, and attorneys who are working
together to ensure justice for the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Bagram
air base in Afghanistan, and other offshore prison sites maintained by
the CIA and the Pentagon around the world."

Its mission is "to ensure basic human rights for all prisoners,
including the right to be either charged for crimes and tried or
released, in accordance with international law, and not held
indefinitely, and to find homes for prisoners who cannot return home."

The organisation was formed soon after President Obama signed an
executive order to close Guantánamo Bay prison by Jan. 22, 2010.

--
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

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