SPECIAL REPORTS

Obama preparing order to close Gitmo

RAW STORY
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama will order the closing of the Guantanamo Bay US military prison, his advisers say, according to Lara Jakes of The Associated Press:

That executive order is expected during Obama's first week on the job — and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers. Both spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Obama's order will direct his administration to figure out what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.

It's still unlikely the prison would be closed any time soon. Obama last weekend said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.

Part of the challenge in closing the Guantanamo prison is that not all of the detainees, if released, would be welcome in their home countries. The Pentagon has begun releasing some prisoners to their countries of origin, where they can stand trial or be summarily released.

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The ACLU released this statement after the AP report: “While the news from unnamed sources in the Obama transition team about the closing of Guantánamo is certainly welcome, what we need are specifics about the timeline for the shuttering of the military commissions and the release or charging of detainees who have been indefinitely held for years. Executive orders are an important first step. But we trust that President-elect Obama will provide a detailed plan for ending the Guantánamo military commissions, shutting down the Guantánamo military prison and ending President Bush’s legacy of indefinite detention. An executive order lacking such detail, especially after the transition team has had months to develop a comprehensive plan on an issue this important, would be insufficient. What we need is an executive order that is less about rhetoric and more about a detailed plan – and we’re hoping that that is what President-elect Obama has planned for January 20.”

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