Military+prisons+closing

Quick Facts On the second day of President Barack Obama’s reign, January 22nd, he signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay military prison. The order is to shut the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , close any remaining CIA secret prisons overseas in an effort to banish harsh interrogation practices.  Of the roughly 800 prisoners that have been to GB, there are 242 detainees still being held Officials have 180 days to find a lawful way to deal with detainees The prison has a 1 year deadline to be closed The question now becomes what will happen to the remaining captives since the prison is being closed. __Options offered: __  o  Send nationals back to their respective countries..  §  Countries like Britain and Saudi Arabia have already taken back nationals or residents   o  Imprisoning them on American soil..  §  Maximum security prisons for world terrorists? <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Other perspectives <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·  <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This order was a tactic used by Barack Obama to show the world that his administration will confront global violence without sacrificing "our values and our ideals.”  <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This tactic was used to show separation in thinking from the previous President George Bush. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Guantanamo Bay Cuba symbolizes the objectionable parts of the war on terror. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·  <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The interrogation tactics used at these prisons may be considered cruel and unusual punishment. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> The number can be whittled down. Countries from Britain to Saudi Arabia have already taken back nationals or residents, including some potentially dangerous characters. Mr Bush had been pressing others to take in the roughly 60 who, though cleared for release, could not be sent home; an expedited review of cases will have Mr Obama pressing harder. Reports that at least 61 of the more than 500 detainees freed from Guantánamo thus far have reverted to violence will not help. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Finding those “lawful” solutions for the too-dangerous-to-release lot will be even trickier. Human-rights campaigners want them to have their day in court—federal district court, tried under criminal law. Federal courts have a good record in trying terrorism cases, says a recent report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank. But even with “clean teams” collecting fresh evidence, untainted by accusations of past harsh treatment, few cases may go to trial this way; even where suspects were nabbed properly, especially in conflict zones, FBI-standard evidence-collection was not a priority. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Those deemed ordinary fighters, such as Taliban picked up on battlefields in Afghanistan, could be held legally as prisoners-of-war until hostilities have ended. But in many cases standard laws of war may be too hard or too risky to apply: to those whose proper identities are unknown, for example, or who are suspected of loyalty not to tribal commanders but to al-Qaeda’s network of terrorist affiliates. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The solution, argues Ben Wittes of the Brookings Institution, another think-tank, is for Congress and the administration to devise a properly constituted, accountable detention system, one designed to protect sensitive information that can nonetheless be challenged by defence lawyers. A line under the past still, but not quite so clear.
 * Military Prisons Closing**