Thursday, January 22, 2009

So Obama has ordered that Camp X-ray be closed. This is the facility located in the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that houses various "enemy combatants" captured during the Bush Administration's War on Terror. This is a positive step, but as I am weary of politicians I will wait and see whether or not the President does what is constitutionally appropriate. By that I mean:

1) Order the immediate release of all prisoners whose innocence is no longer in question. If they are unable to return to their countries of origin for fear of persecution, then they must be offered asylum in the United States.

2) Move all cases, and I mean ALL cases, to civilian courts. The category of "enemy combatant" is extra-legal and has never been recognized by International Law.

3) If the government is convinced that a detainee is a threat, but has no concrete evidence with which to prosecute them for crimes, then they must be released. If they cannot present evidence for fear of exposing intelligence assets they can order a judge to impose a strict gag order on all proceedings. Such an order would prohibit a defendant from communicating with anyone but defense counsel, but would not impede said counsel's duty to investigate the crimes in question to disprove evidence produced by the state. All proceedings could come under judicial oversight without having sensitive information made public.