Obama planning US trials for Guantanamo detainees

Obama planning US trials for Guantanamo detainees

ap.google.com

President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.huffingtonpost.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Obama team reviewing 'virtually every agency,' aide says

You can see the spin on this article, There is nothing "controversial" about this, the US should give everyone she accuses of a crime a fair trial regardless of their citizenship.

It's yet to be seen whether PE Obama makes good on this promise, but I have to say, after hearing the thread about his proposed review of Bushe's executive orders, I am impressed.

Much more so than a revised economic policy, this is the kind of change we need.

ap.google.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It is good to hear that the president-elect is fostering, at the very least, a discussion of possible trial or release of detainees. It has felt as though the entire process is at a standstill (save the continuing accrual of new prisoners), something that has been quite troublesome to many of us. It is a pity the public has not expressed greater opposition to the practices at Guantanamo Bay, but what's done is done. I hope that the new administration will muster up the energy and will to get things moving along at the prison.

reply to post by paperplanes


Whether it's just lip service for not, her deserves a bit of credit for bringing up the issue that these people deserve a fair trial.

reply to post by asmeone2

yes! just mentioning it in this context like he did deserves some credit. i don't know what will come of it, but i am encouraged.

It might be just me, but why are they even discussing using the US legal system to try these people? Isn't that supposed to be for US citizens to ensure the rights they have as a citizen isn't compromised? These people are being held as foreign enemy combatants. Whether they are or not is besides the point. The point is that is what they are being held as. They should be judged in a military court of law. Hell, even US soldiers who break the law are judged in a miliary court.

It might just be me though.

It's just you.

Whereever they are judged the scary thing about Guantanamo is that the individuals are tried in secret, just because they are "enemy combatants."

Historically, that kind of titling has been used to subvert the legal system and get rid of political enemies who are inconvenient to the regime.

Regardless of how clear the evidence is or what the accused is supposed to have comitted, the important thing about the American legal system is that it is transparent and allows benefit of the doubt for the accused.

Taking that away in places like Guantanamo, even if you don't particularily like the "enemy combatants," is a frightening slope to go down.

Anyone who thinks that the US Gov would keep it strictly to foreign enemy combatants, just out of the goodness of their hearts, is a fool.

If we can prosecute that scum Ramzi Yousef.
en.wikipedia.org...
We can prosecute those which we have held for years. When we suspend habeus corpus for any reason the country as we know and have read about slowly fades away.

They can label anyone they want a terrorist and put them in Guantanamo, essentially dissapearing them.
Sounds more like Soviet Russia, rather than the Great U.S. Of A.