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Guantanamo inmates to be moved to US jails
The Bush administration is preparing detailed plans to empty Guantanamo prison of every inmate, possibly by finding a legal basis for transferring some to jails on the US mainland.
- The Daily Telegraph
- Published: 23:14 July 5, 2008
London, UK: The Bush administration is preparing detailed plans to empty Guantanamo prison of every inmate, possibly by finding a legal basis for transferring some to jails on the US mainland.
Some 265 detainees are being held in Guantanamo, Cuba, down from a peak of more than 700 four years ago. Only 20 new prisoners have arrived since 2004.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that all inmates are protected by the US constitution, in the same way as American citizens. This landmark decision opened the way for all the prisoners to challenge their continued detention in civilian courts.
The authorities have now classified the inmates into three groups. Owing to the weight of evidence against them, about 80 will be tried before military commissions. Another 65 can be repatriated to their home countries.
But emptying the prison requires dealing with the last 120 inmates. These suspects are judged too dangerous to be released or sent back to their home countries. But there is also insufficient evidence to place them on trial.
Defence secretary Robert Gates has favoured closing Guantanamo since he took office in 2006, arguing that the damage its existence does to America's global standing outweighs any security gain.
"But it must be a legal construct that enables the US, and the world at large, to keep these hard-core terrorists from being able to attack innocent people," an official told The Washington Post.
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