Legal Commentary

Late Night: Guantanamo (To Music)

By Jeralyn

President Obama took a great step forward today for the detainees at Guantanamo, for the rule of law and for the restoration of America's image in the world.

Yes, there's more work to be done, specifically with ensuring that the secret renditions via Ghost Air to other countries whose personnel may engage in torture are not allowed in the future, that the definition of torture includes not just what is prohibited by regulations in the Army Field Manual but also comports in all respects with the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture, that the military tribunals be dismantled entirely following the review process and that no new national security or other court system is set up to try detainees (our federal criminal and military courts are up to the task).

It's amazing to hear some of the pundits on TV tonight criticize Obama's orders and suggest Gitmo should stay open. Perhaps they have forgotten or never seen the images in this video. [More...]

The ACLU:

"President Obama's orders send an important message to the world that United States is prepared to reengage with the international community on human rights issues and to conduct counter-terrorism measures in a manner that respects the rule of law and U.S. treaty obligations. In formulating a plan for the treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo and other international detention centers, the Obama administration should break from the Bush administration's distortion of the definition of torture and cruel and inhumane treatment and end the unlawful rendition program. We are hopeful that the administration will fully comply with international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture."

The Center for Constitutional Rights:

The order to make all agencies abide by the Army Field Manual’s acceptable interrogation tactics is perhaps the most important gesture toward restoring our moral authority as a nation. The Center for Constitutional Rights represents so many men who were brutally tortured by our government that this hits home for us in a way that it may not for those with no faces and lives to attach to the story.

Again, we caution that the order may leave an escape hatch if the CIA should want more tactics, i.e. torture, available in its arsenal. The Geneva conventions should be the only arbiter of what is possible for governments to do to human beings.

You can read the full text of President Obama's executive orders here.

• White House Executive Order: Closing Guantanamo Bay
• White House Executive Order: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
• White House Executive Order: Review of Detention Policy
• White House Memorandum: Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri

President Obama did us proud today. He's off to great start. We're not there yet, but we're closer. To finally reach that place called justice, we must not forget what took place in our name.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).