No Excuse, Says Human Rights Lawyer: Obama Can Still Close Guantanamo
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/no_excuse_says_human_rights_lawyer_obama
_can_still_close_guantanamo_2015111/
Posted on Nov 11, 2015
By Sarah Lazare / Common Dreams
Shutterstock
This piece ran on Common Dreams.
After President Barack Obama agreed on Tuesday to sign a $607 billion
defense bill that undermines his own plan to shutter the U.S. military
prison at Guantánamo Bay, media outlets sounded the death knell for hopes
that the facility will close before his term ends in 2017.
But Omar Shakir, a Bertha fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights,
told Common Dreams that the president, in fact, still retains the ability to
close the prisonand must act now to fulfill his repeated pledges.
Obama has been able and continues to be able to transfer the men cleared
for release by every security and intelligence agency, Shakir said over the
phone from Guantánamo where he is meeting with clients. It is in his power
to accelerate the pace of periodic review boards. He has the ability through
the Department of Justice to ensure that those who face trial do so in fair
proceedings in federal court.
Obama has failed to follow through with his campaign promises and
commitments to close Guantánamo by taking concrete steps while in power to
articulate and execute a vision, Shakir continued. In the vacuum we have
seen opportunistic politicians from both sides of the aisle using Guantánamo
as a tool for their own purposes at the expense of the critical principles
of due process and freedom, holding men without charge in indefinite
detention without end.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which was overwhelmingly passed by
the Senate on Tuesday, includes a ban on transferring men held in Guantánamo
to U.S. prisonsa cornerstone of Obamas plan to shutter the facility. Some,
however, have argued that the congressional ban on transfers to the U.S. is
constitutionally invalid.
Of the 112 men who remain, 53 have been cleared for release83 percent of
them Yemeni. Meanwhile, 49 are awaiting clearance and currently going
through the periodic review process. Ten are in the military commissions
system, with 7 on trial and three convicted.
The U.S. has long claimed that the location of the Guantánamo prison in Cuba
allows them to detain War On Terror prisoners without granting them due
process or legal protections, including those against torture.
But Shakir emphasized that Obamas plan to transfer some of the men to U.S.
soil would not fully address the tragedy at the heart of Guantánamo.
In part, this is because it would still involve moving the men to the U.S.
without formal charges being brought against themin continuation of their
indefinite detenion. Whats more, they would still likely face a military
commissionif and when they faced trial.
On the point of transfer to the U.S., the U.S. wants to hold people in the
U.S. without charge, indefinitely detain them, without any sort of due
process, he said. They would be placed in a black hole where they are not
subject to any sort of legal process. These are people who have been held
without charge for years on end. The plan would relocate people for another
U.S. president.
There is significant concern among many in Guantánamo about their ordeals
continuing for years on end, Shakir continued. Many have lived there for
14 years, not only not knowing why theyre there, but also not knowing when
they may exit. One can only imagine the torment and mental anguish caused by
being told you have been cleared for release, but having no idea when you
will be released, and knowing the control of your fate is not in your hands,
but in the hands of political forces.
Indeed, the men detained at the prison have long protested their confinement
using the tools at their disposal, including hunger strikes. While a
long-standing U.S. media blackout makes it difficult to know just how many
people are engaging in peaceful protest, Shakir said it is well known that
long-term hunger strikes continue.
One of Shakirs clients, a Yemeni man Ghaleb Nasser Al-Bihani, has
reportedly faced retaliation for participating in hunger strikes to protest
his detention without charge or trial for 14 yearsa third of his life.
All I think about is the day my freedom will be given back to me, for it
will be the day of my re-birth, Al-Bihani said in December 2013. I want to
become a father and hold my baby in my arms, and provide for my family and
to my child.
http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/
No Excuse, Says Human Rights Lawyer: Obama Can Still Close Guantanamo
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/no_excuse_says_human_rights_lawyer_obama
_can_still_close_guantanamo_2015111/
Posted on Nov 11, 2015
By Sarah Lazare / Common Dreams
Shutterstock
This piece ran on Common Dreams.
After President Barack Obama agreed on Tuesday to sign a $607 billion
defense bill that undermines his own plan to shutter the U.S. military
prison at Guantánamo Bay, media outlets sounded the death knell for hopes
that the facility will close before his term ends in 2017.
But Omar Shakir, a Bertha fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights,
told Common Dreams that the president, in fact, still retains the ability to
close the prisonand must act now to fulfill his repeated pledges.
Obama has been able and continues to be able to transfer the men cleared
for release by every security and intelligence agency, Shakir said over the
phone from Guantánamo where he is meeting with clients. It is in his power
to accelerate the pace of periodic review boards. He has the ability through
the Department of Justice to ensure that those who face trial do so in fair
proceedings in federal court.
Obama has failed to follow through with his campaign promises and
commitments to close Guantánamo by taking concrete steps while in power to
articulate and execute a vision, Shakir continued. In the vacuum we have
seen opportunistic politicians from both sides of the aisle using Guantánamo
as a tool for their own purposes at the expense of the critical principles
of due process and freedom, holding men without charge in indefinite
detention without end.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which was overwhelmingly passed by
the Senate on Tuesday, includes a ban on transferring men held in Guantánamo
to U.S. prisonsa cornerstone of Obamas plan to shutter the facility. Some,
however, have argued that the congressional ban on transfers to the U.S. is
constitutionally invalid.
Of the 112 men who remain, 53 have been cleared for release83 percent of
them Yemeni. Meanwhile, 49 are awaiting clearance and currently going
through the periodic review process. Ten are in the military commissions
system, with 7 on trial and three convicted.
The U.S. has long claimed that the location of the Guantánamo prison in Cuba
allows them to detain War On Terror prisoners without granting them due
process or legal protections, including those against torture.
But Shakir emphasized that Obamas plan to transfer some of the men to U.S.
soil would not fully address the tragedy at the heart of Guantánamo.
In part, this is because it would still involve moving the men to the U.S.
without formal charges being brought against themin continuation of their
indefinite detenion. Whats more, they would still likely face a military
commissionif and when they faced trial.
On the point of transfer to the U.S., the U.S. wants to hold people in the
U.S. without charge, indefinitely detain them, without any sort of due
process, he said. They would be placed in a black hole where they are not
subject to any sort of legal process. These are people who have been held
without charge for years on end. The plan would relocate people for another
U.S. president.
There is significant concern among many in Guantánamo about their ordeals
continuing for years on end, Shakir continued. Many have lived there for
14 years, not only not knowing why theyre there, but also not knowing when
they may exit. One can only imagine the torment and mental anguish caused by
being told you have been cleared for release, but having no idea when you
will be released, and knowing the control of your fate is not in your hands,
but in the hands of political forces.
Indeed, the men detained at the prison have long protested their confinement
using the tools at their disposal, including hunger strikes. While a
long-standing U.S. media blackout makes it difficult to know just how many
people are engaging in peaceful protest, Shakir said it is well known that
long-term hunger strikes continue.
One of Shakirs clients, a Yemeni man Ghaleb Nasser Al-Bihani, has
reportedly faced retaliation for participating in hunger strikes to protest
his detention without charge or trial for 14 yearsa third of his life.
All I think about is the day my freedom will be given back to me, for it
will be the day of my re-birth, Al-Bihani said in December 2013. I want to
become a father and hold my baby in my arms, and provide for my family and
to my child.
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