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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
13

No Clear Way for US to Prosecute Gitmo Prisoners

Experts split on whether to use federal courts or military commissions

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(Newser) – President Obama is edging closer to his goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison: Congress has approved detainee trials on US soil and the National Defense Authorization Act, passed yesterday, attempts to repair the damaged legality of President Bush’s military-commissions system. But hurdles remain, with legal scholars split on using the improved military-commissions system or federal courts for prosecutions.

Even “the new law can’t salvage these discredited commissions,” a Human Rights Watch official tells NPR—adding that the rules allow the commissions to handle offenses not considered violations of the laws of war, fatally obscuring their purpose. Other experts worry that prosecutions built for the commissions system—which uses testimony of witnesses from the field, who are not easily available to testify—might not survive the transition to conventional courts.

Protesters calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay gather outside the White House, Oct. 5, 2009.
Protesters calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay gather outside the White House, Oct. 5, 2009.   (AP Photo)
Protesters calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay gather outside the White House, Oct. 5, 2009.
Protesters calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay gather outside the White House, Oct. 5, 2009.   (AP Photo)
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13 comments
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cedarkey
Oct 29, 09 11:23 PM CDT
No clear way to prosecute? Sure there is. Feed them to the sharks. Reply
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-7
IN RESPONSE:
pete_ess
Oct 30, 09 4:45 AM CDT
The question was a serious one, cedar. An obvious solution would be to look at how they were obtained and simply RELEASE all whose detention was not according to law and international treaties. Y'know: Treat them like you'd like to be treated if YOU were arrested unprocedurally in a foreign country. Weird suggestion, huh? I can just see BushCheneyRumsfeld squirming.
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+2
IN RESPONSE:
RockyPneumonia
Oct 30, 09 7:15 AM CDT
Yeah, pete, but now cedarkey has simultaneously made himself feel like a Real Man and revealed that he has no understanding of the principles on which America was based.
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+1
ultramarine13
Oct 29, 09 11:29 PM CDT
Unlike cedarkey, I think we should just send them through the standard court system. That's what it was built for. Enough of these shadow military courts, time to make everything legit. Will most of them get off on acquittals? Yeah, but that's the price we pay for letting someone with as little regard for the law as Bush and Cheney handling these detainees. Reply
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+5
yummines
Oct 29, 09 11:54 PM CDT
The only problem with using military trials, is that they might not be considered "fair" as many were put their unfairly, and without fair representation. however the problem with giving them regular trials is that they most likely will be aquited, due to the fact that they were put their unfairly and probably many guilty people will be free. I'm not sure, what do you guys think? Reply
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+1

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