Constitutional Law

Turning Point Approaches for Guantanamo?

Monday may be a watershed day in the controversial history of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Then, the government may release a detainee for the first time under President Obama. Also, Attorney General and former ACS Board Member Eric Holder is scheduled to arrive that day, along with a Justice Department team, to examine conditions there.

Holder’s visit is intended to advance President Obama’s plan to close the prison at Guantanamo, according to Bloomberg. Holder announced the visit this week, saying that the tour would give a necessary, first-hand perspective on conditions at the notorious facility.

“We need to have our feet on the ground to really see what is going on down at the facility, to see how people are begin detained, to talk to people down there about the interrogation techniques that are being used,” Holder said. “I think that will be an important first step as we try to resolve the issues that the president has put before me.”

President Obama signed an executive order on Jan. 22, requiring closure of the prison within one year, and banning some of the harshest interrogation tactics employed there and elsewhere by the U.S. military.

Another step towards the closure of the detention facility will be the release of Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohammed. Mohammed is an Ethiopian national and longtime British resident who may be released Monday, Feb. 23, having been in U.S. custody since 2002.

The Washington Post reports that Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan early that year and transferred to the U.S. military shortly thereafter. Subsequently, he alleges that he was flown to Morocco and tortured during interrogations about various terrorist plots. What is known for certain is that he spent approximately two years in secret custody before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2004.

The British government has long sought Mohammed’s release, creating tensions between London and Washington. Upon being turned over to British authorities, he will be released without charges in the U.K.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 20, 2009 (boomark / email).