15th anniversary passes of Guantanamo Bay prison with no sign of closure in sight

On January 11, 2002 Guantanamo Bay detention center opened its cells to retain terror suspects. The facility became infamous for torture and indefinite detention without any charges being laid in many cases.

The facility was first opened under president George Bush in 2002 after the 9/11 attacks in September of 2001. At the time of its establishment its purpose was described as follows: "... Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the prison camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes. In practice, the site has long been used for indefinite detention without trial."

During his 2008 presidential campaign Obama said of Guantanamo that it was "a sad chapter of American history" and promised to close down the prison next year. Obama repeated his promise on 60 Minutes and the ABC program This Week after he was elected. From the very start, Obama tried to close the base but was always stymied mostly by the U.S. Congress that passed motions that forbade him from transferring any Guantanamo prisoners to U.S. soil. In January of 2009 he issued a request to suspend the operations of the military commission for 120 days and shut down the facility within the year. Of course, it never closed then nor in subsequent years.

Over the years the facility has held up to 800 prisoners who in some cases were tortured, with the overwhelming majority never having been charged. The euphemistically named "enhanced techniques" included water-boarding and being stripped naked and being confined in dark cells for long periods. A November 2016 study, by the Afghan Analysts network, found that many prisoners were retained on the basis of scant evidence. The group claimed that the eight longest-serving prisoners were being held on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations. Nine prisoners have died in custody, seven from apparent suicides. Over the years many prisoners have been cleared for release and Obama has been attempting to release all he can before his term is up on January 20th. Only 55 prisoners now remain and of those 19 have been cleared for release, five of them as long ago as 2009. The facility has housed at least fifteen children including Omar Khadr who was picked up in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr is now back in Canada. He is a Canadian citizen. He returned to Canada in September of 2012 where he will serve out his sentence.

Omar Khadr is shown in an undated handout photo from the Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alta.

Bowden Institution

Mohammed el Gharani was 14 when sent to Guantanamo. He was accused of fighting for the Taliban and being a member of a London-based Al-Qaeda cell. It turns out that Gharani has never been to the U.K. or to Afghanistan. He was finally released in 2009 after seven years in prison. There are many cases where supposed evidence turns out to be incorrect. Mustafa al-Shamiri has spent 14 years in Guantanamo. In a case of mistaken identity he was taken to be a senior Al-Qaeda trainer in Afghanistan. He was finally cleared for release more than a year ago but is still being held.

In July 2002 U.S. military forces raided a compound in Logar province Afghanistan. They were looking for a suspected fighter who went by the alias Abdul Bari who had ties to an Al-Qaeda bomb maker. They did find an Abdul Bari whose real name was Abdul Zaric with Bari just being his nickname. When captured the U.S. forces claimed he possessed unknown substances including a white powder, that were initially thought to be chemical or biological agents. He did work as a translator for the Taliban government to support his family. According to a 2015 report the substances in his possession were salt, sugar and petroleum jelly.

A Guantanamo detainee wears an orange jump suit at the Guantanamo Naval Base on January 17, 2002

Roberto Schmidt, AFP/File

President-elect Donald Trump has said that there should be no further releases from Guantanamo. He says they are extremely dangerous people who should not be allowed back on the battlefield. Trump has vowed to keep the prison open and load it up with some 'bad hombres'. The other day Obama announced the transfer of four detainees to Saudi Arabia perhaps the last to be released before September 20. Even if every detainee cleared for transfer is released there would still be about forty held at the prison.

There is a deep uncertainty among Guantanamo inmates as to what will happen in the future as Donald Trump becomes president. Pardiss Kebriaei, lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Right, that represents the prisoners said: “There is a great deal of anxiety and fear.”

Vice president Joe Biden expects Guantanamo to close by end of Obama's term

United States Vice President Joe Biden said today (August 25) that he expected the military prison in Guantanamo Bay Cuba to be closed before President Obama left office in January of 2017.

At a news conference in Sweden, Biden said: "That is my hope and expectation." Obama promised to close the base when he first campaigned for president. The US Congress has opposed Obama''s plans including passing legislation to ban him from moving Guantanamo prisoners to the US mainland.

Obama sent a plan for closing the facility to Congress back in February: "Obama outlined a blueprint that involves transferring the bulk of remaining detainees to other countries and moving the rest — who can't be transferred abroad because they're deemed too dangerous — to an as-yet-undetermined detention facility in the United States."

When Obama first ordered Guantanamo closed, there were still 242 detainees. This has dropped to 61. Fifteen were transferred just recently. However several dozen detainees are not eligible for transfer and the Congress has banned their transfer to the US. If Congress revoked the ban then Obama could likely transfer all the detainees out and close it down. However, there is no sign that this will happen. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said: “As far as I'm concerned, every last one of them can rot in hell, but as long as they don’t do that, they can rot in Guantánamo Bay.”

Obama could claim that under the US constitution he has the power to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the US. There are already convicted terrorists held in a Colorado prison. Although this move would allow Obama to close the prison, it would no doubt cause political fireworks. Under Trump probably the prison would stay open. Hillary Clinton has suggested ways that would "chip away at the ban" and ultimately allow her to close the prison. However, it is not certain that this would even be a priority for Clinton.

There are a number of signs that there are no plans to close the facility soon. Quite the opposite, there are budgets being allocated to repair old facilities and build new ones for those operating the prison as described in an earlier Digital Journal article. Even if Guantanamo does close, the worst feature of the prison will remain in force. Some of those transferred to the US can still be kept imprisoned indefinitely without trial should the US authorities decide to do so.

Yemeni prisoner dies in Guantanamo

Adrian Latif died in confinement at Guantanamo prison on September 5. The cause of death is under investigation. Latif had a history of mental illness but also of consistent challenges against his confinement.

Obama made closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison one of his campaign promise. On January 22, 2009 he signed an order that the facility be closed within a year. However two years later with Guantanamo still open Obama on March 7, 2011 signed another executive order that reversed his position on trying the detainees in civilian courts. He ruled that detainees could be tried by military tribunals.

Of course Guantanamo not only continues to be open but it is being upgraded. The U.S. taxpayer also continues to pay approximately $800,000 per detainee per year.

Detainees are held indefinitely without trial and challenges against their being held without trial have not been successful so far. Adrian Latif is one detainee who had constantly challenged his imprisonment.

In July 2010 a judge ruled that a classified report was not sufficient evidence that Latif had trained at a training camp and ordered him released. The government naturally appealed and a higher court ruled that courts should assume government documents were accurate and reliable. In June the Supreme Court refused to hear Latif's appeal. For those accused there is no challenge available to the government's decision since it must be assumed evidence is accurate and reliable. The question of holding someone indefinitely without trial does not even seem to have been addressed. This led to a great lack of hope among many prisoners. Latif himself tried to commit suicide a number of times and also joined in a hunger strike.

Latif also suffers mental problems perhaps caused by a traffic accident he had suffered before being sent to Guantanamo. In fact when he was captured he claimed he was going to Pakistan for medical treatment.

Latif often battled guards at the facility. On one occasion he threw "bodily fluids" at a guard and another time spit in the face of another guard. He was constantly being subject to disciplinary measures as a result. This no doubt simply fueled his anger.

At one time Latif was actually cleared for release as no danger to the U.S and a court ordered his release but this was just at the time that the Obama administration had decided that no more detainees would be released to Yemen because at least some had joined radical Islamist groups. There were no plans even now to try Latif for any crimes. At most he is claimed to have been trained with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

David Remes Latif's attorney said:

"Anyway you look at it, he died because he was there... If he committed suicide, it was because his detention killed his spirit. If it wasn't suicide it could have been medical neglect. It could have been mistreatment by the guards. But at the end of the day he died because he was there."

Latif was in his early to mid thirties when he died. He had been at Guantanamo for over a decade.

Guantanamo to get 40 million dollar upgrade

      One of Obama's early promises was to close Guantanamo. Of course it never happened. Now it seems that the facility is being renovated. This is surely a sign that there are no plans to close Guantanamo in the near future.
    A 40 million dollar fiber optic cable system is to be installed to replace a single satellite that works poorly during bad weather. Navy Capt. Kirk Hibbert said: . "It only makes sense to do if we're going to be here for any period of time,"  However an Army official said that the upgrade is meant to serve the naval station to bring it up to par with other bases. He said the U.S. still plans to close the prison facility. Of course he neglected to mention when it would close!
  The project will require congressional approval. Although Cuban authorities have been notified of the project they have no say in the matter. The U.S. has a lease in perpetuity which can be ended only with the agreement of both governments. Of course the U.S. would not agree to vacate the base.
   The Cuban government refuses to recognize the validity of the lease and does not cash the checks provided annually by the U.S. American lawyer Eric Montalvo noted: “... Cuba has requested that the US leave on a number of occasions,”“And if you look at the terms of the agreement, they do not conform to real estate law because there is this rule against perpetuities. You just can’t have something that goes on forever in a lease, there has to be a defined beginning and a defined end.”Might makes right and in this case it is the U.S. not Cuba that has the might. For more see this article.

US ties up Guantanamo closure funds.

This is from AFP via Yahoo.

Obama will close Guantanamo but it does not look like it will be any time soon and Obama is also considering setting up new military tribunals even though he was quite critical of such tribunals during the Bush era. No doubt these will be new. changed and much better!
It seems that no one wants Guantanamo inmates the ones that are left even though some are some such as the Uighirs are hardly a danger to the US and groups have offered to help them adjust.



US Senate ties up Guantanamo closure funds
Wed May 13, 7:18 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US senators on Thursday were to debate a bill forbidding the use of new money to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists to ship any detainees to the United States.
The Senate Appropriations Committee was to take up legislation granting US President Barack Obama's request for 80 million dollars to shutter the controversial facility by January 22, 2010 -- but attaching strict conditions.
Obama had requested the funding as part of an emergency measure to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through October 1, but quickly ran into tough Republican opposition and widespread Democratic unease.
The Senate bill would address those misgivings by forbidding the use of 50 million dollars to cover Defense Department expenses tied to closing the facility for bringing detainees to US soil.
None of the money could be spent until 30 days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates has provided a detailed plan for where the funds will go, according to a summary provided by a congressional source late Wednesday.
The bill would also stipulate that the money "can only be used to relocate prisoners to locations outside of the United States, and only if the Secretary has certified that prisoners transferred to other nations will remain in that nation?s custody as long as they remain a threat to the United States."
As for the 30 million dollars Obama sought for the Justice Department, the summary says, "no funds are provided in this Title to transfer, relocate, or incarcerate Guantanamo Bay detainees to or within the United States."
Instead, the money would go towards expenses tied to Attorney General Eric Holder's review of the status of each of the 241 detainees -- like providing space and equipment to review their cases and defray costs linked to staffing the review.
Copyright © 2009 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Obama plans Guantanamo closure, US terror trials

Certainly it is good that Guantanamo is being closed. However, Obama still seems to opting for some trials that will give those on trial fewer rights than in ordinary courts. This sounds as if they are a type of Bush lite tribunal. This will hardly restore the US image as a country that respects human and legal rights.
I wonder if Obama will take persons such as Maher Arar off their no fly list or make any apologies for the policy of rendition.

Obama plans Guantanamo closure, US terror trials
By MATT APUZZO and LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writers Matt Apuzzo And Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 2 mins ago

…
WASHINGTON – 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.
A third group of detainees — the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information — might have to go before a new court designed especially to handle sensitive national security cases, according to advisers and Democrats involved in the talks. Advisers participating directly in the planning spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans aren't final.
The move would be a sharp deviation from the Bush administration, which established military tribunals to prosecute detainees at the Navy base in Cuba and strongly opposes bringing prisoners to the United States. Obama's Republican challenger, John McCain, had also pledged to close Guantanamo. But McCain opposed criminal trials, saying the Bush administration's tribunals should continue on U.S. soil.
The plan being developed by Obama's team has been championed by legal scholars from both political parties. But it is almost certain to face opposition from Republicans who oppose bringing terrorism suspects to the U.S. and from Democrats who oppose creating a new court system with fewer rights for detainees.
The plan drew criticism from some detainee lawyers shortly after it surfaced Monday.
"I think that creating a new alternative court system in response to the abject failure of Guantanamo would be a profound mistake," said Jonathan Hafetz, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represents detainees. "We do not need a new court system. The last eight years are a testament to the problems of trying to create new systems."
Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and Obama legal adviser, said discussions about plans for Guantanamo had been "theoretical" before the election but would quickly become very focused because closing the prison is a top priority. Bringing the detainees to the United States will be controversial, he said, but could be accomplished.
"I think the answer is going to be, they can be as securely guarded on U.S. soil as anywhere else," Tribe said. "We can't put people in a dungeon forever without processing whether they deserve to be there."
The tougher challenge will be allaying fears by Democrats who believe the Bush administration's military commissions were a farce and dislike the idea of giving detainees anything less than the full constitutional rights normally enjoyed by everyone on U.S. soil.
"There would be concern about establishing a completely new system," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and former federal prosecutor who is aware of the discussions in the Obama camp. "And in the sense that establishing a regimen of detention that includes American citizens and foreign nationals that takes place on U.S. soil and departs from the criminal justice system — trying to establish that would be very difficult."
Obama has said the civilian and military court-martial systems provide "a framework for dealing with the terrorists," and Tribe said the administration would look to those venues before creating a new legal system. But discussions of what a new system would look like have already started.
"It would have to be some sort of hybrid that involves military commissions that actually administer justice rather than just serve as kangaroo courts," Tribe said. "It will have to both be and appear to be fundamentally fair in light of the circumstances. I think people are going to give an Obama administration the benefit of the doubt in that regard."
Though a hybrid court may be unpopular, other advisers and Democrats involved in the Guantanamo Bay discussions say Obama has few other options.
Prosecuting all detainees in federal courts raises a host of problems. Evidence gathered through military interrogation or from intelligence sources might be thrown out. Defendants would have the right to confront witnesses, meaning undercover CIA officers or terrorist turncoats might have to take the stand, jeopardizing their cover and revealing classified intelligence tactics.
But Tribe said the current military commission system represents a "nonstarter" and other advisers agreed. With lax evidence rules and intense secrecy, the commissions have been criticized by human rights groups, defense attorneys and even some military prosecutors who quit in protest.
"I don't think we need to completely reinvent the wheel, but we need a better tribunal process that is more transparent," Schiff said.
That means something different would need to be done if detainees couldn't be released or prosecuted in traditional courts. Exactly what that something would look like remains unclear.
According to three advisers participating in the process, Obama is expected to propose a new court system, appointing a committee to decide how such a court would operate. Some detainees likely would be returned to the countries where they were first captured for further detention or rehabilitation. The rest could probably be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts, one adviser said. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks, which have been private.
Waleed Alshahari, who has been following Guantanamo issues for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, said the plan being discussed by the Obama team was an improvement over the current system. But he said he expects most detainees to be released rather than stand trial.
"If the U.S. government has any evidence against them, they would try them and put them in jail," Alshahari said. "But it has been obvious they have nothing against them. That is why they have not faced trial."
With more than 90 Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo, the country is home to the largest group of prisoners. The U.S. and Yemen have negotiated but failed to reach a deal on a prisoner release.
Whatever form Obama's plan finally takes, Tribe said the next president would move quickly.
"In reality and symbolically, the idea that we have people in legal black holes is an extremely serious black mark," Tribe said. "It has to be dealt with."