Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center

A little context...

A campaign fact sheet on counter-terrorism said this about Obama's promise to close the detention facility at Guantanamo: "Guantanamo has become a recruiting tool for our enemies. The legal framework behind Guantanamo has failed completely, resulting in only one conviction. President Bush's own Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates (who Obama has since nominated to retain this post), wants to close it. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, wants to close it. The first step to reclaiming America's standing in the world has to be closing this facility. As president, Barack Obama will close the detention facility at Guantanamo."

Congress moves to allow some detainees on U.S. soil

Updated: Friday, October 16th, 2009 | By Catharine Richert

President Barack Obama is again making progress in his effort to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
 
The House of Representatives voted Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009, to allow some prisoners there to be temporarily transferred to the United States for prosecution.
 
Promise No. 177 made its first appearance on the Obameter on Jan. 21, 2009, the day after Obama was sworn into office. The new president had just directed prosecutors to suspend legal proceedings against the suspected terrorists held at the facility. A day later, the administration issued an executive order to review the disposition of the prisoners and ordered that the facility be shut down within a year.
 
But by May, Obama's plans had begun to unravel. Congressional Republicans and Democrats said Obama needed to detail what he would do with the approximately 240 detainees held at the prison.

"The president, unwisely, in my view, announced an arbitrary timeline for closing Guantanamo of next January without a plan to deal with the terrorists who are incarcerated down there," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at the time.
 
The opposition culminated in a May 20 vote, when the Senate voted to strip $80 million meant to shutter the facility from a war spending bill. House Democrats had already refused to include the funding in their version of the legislation.

Without support in Congress, Obama's plan to close down Guantanamo Bay had clearly reached a roadblock, so we decided to move Obama's promise from In the Works to Stalled.
 
Now, nearly five months later — with his one-year deadline looming — Democrats have changed their tune. In the Homeland Security Department funding bill is a provision that would allow detainees to temporarily be transferred to U.S. soil for prosecution. Nevertheless, members of Congress still want the White House to come up with a plan for the future of the detainees and the facility. And the legislation is expected to face opposition in the Senate.
 
But given these latest developments in the Guantanamo Bay debate, we're going to move this promise back to In the Works. We'll be watching the issue closely to see whether the rating holds.

Sources:

Politico, House Democrats give Obama Gitmo space, by David Rogers, Oct. 16, 2009

Reuters, US House backs Guantanamo prisoner transfer, by Andy Sullivan, Oct. 15, 2009

More difficulties, this time from inside White House

Updated: Friday, September 25th, 2009 | By Catharine Richert

Promise No. 177 has hit another snag.

On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama promised to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Two days after he took office, he vowed to close it within a year — by Jan. 22, 2010.

But his effort has been slowed by the difficulty in finding a place to house the approximately 240 prisoners held there and resistance from Congress. In May, the Senate refused to fund Obama's efforts to close the center until he provided more detail on what, exactly, he intended to do with the detainees housed there. Now, Gregory Craig, the White House insider who was put in charge of the effort, is being removed from the project, according to a Sept. 25, 2009, Washington Post article.

The Post article, co-written with ProPublica, said the White House will have difficulty meeting the deadline four months from now.

So, closing the detention center continues to encounter difficulties. We'll keep it at Stalled.

Sources:

Washington Post and ProPublica, White House regroups on Guantanamo, Sept. 25, 2009

Congress balks at Obama's plan

Updated: Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | By Catharine Richert

President Barack Obama's plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has run into significant opposition, most notably from members of his own party who stripped millions of dollars to shutter the facility from a war funding bill.

Closing the prison has been one of Obama's signature issues since he was a candidate. On January 20, 2009, the day he was sworn in, he directed prosecutors to file a motion to suspend legal proceedings against the suspected terrorists held at the facility. Two days later, the administration issued an executive order to review the disposition of the prisoners and ordered that the facility be shut down within a year.

For weeks, Republicans have opposed Obama's plan, voicing concern that the administration has not said what will happen to the approximately 240 detainees housed at the center.

"The president, unwisely, in my view, announced an arbitrary timeline for closing Guantanamo of next January without a plan to deal with the terrorists who are incarcerated down there," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

House Democrats have similar concerns; they refused to include the $80 million requested by the administration to close the facility in the war spending bill. Senate Democrats initially included the money in their $91.3 billion version of the measure, but then stripped it out by a 90-6 vote on May 20.

"This is neither the time nor the bill to deal with this," said Democratic leader Harry Reid. "Democrats under no circumstances will move forward without a comprehensive, responsible plan from the president," though Reid stressed that he still believes closing the facility is a good idea.

Just five months ago, Reid had softer words for Obama's executive order, saying that, at first blush, it appeared "to lay out a responsible and careful path that maintains every effective tool needed to defeat terrorists. In fact, I am convinced these changes will strengthen and enhance our counterterrorism efforts."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration still aims to follow the executive order and seal off the facility within a year. Meanwhile, Obama plans to offer more details on his strategy for dealing with the prisoners in speech on May 21.

Obama's efforts to close down Guantanamo Bay are not dead, but they have clearly reached a roadblock. Based on these latest actions, we're moving the Obameter to Stalled and will be watching how it develops over the next few months.

Sources:

CQ Politics, Sen. Mitch McConnell's Comments on Guantanamo Bay , May 19, 2009

CQ Politics, Sen. Harry Reid's comments on Guantanamo Bay , May 19, 2009

White House, Transcript of Briefing of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs , May 19, 2009

Executive Order to close Gitmo

Updated: Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 | By Robert Farley

On his second full day in office, President Obama issued an executive order to review the disposition of prisoners being held at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and ordered that the detention facility be closed within a year.

According to the administration, closure of the facility is the ultimate goal.  The order establishes a review process with the goal of disposing of the detainees before closing the facility.
 
According to the White House, "The Order sets up an immediate review to determine whether it is possible to transfer detainees to third countries, consistent with national security.  If transfer is not approved, a second review will determine whether prosecution is possible and in what forum.  The preference is for prosecution in Article III courts or under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), but military commissions, perhaps with revised authorities, would remain an option.  If there are detainees who cannot be transferred or prosecuted, the review will examine the lawful options for dealing with them.  The Attorney General will coordinate the review and the Secretaries of Defense, State, and Homeland Security as well as the DNI and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will participate."
 
The order also requires that conditions of confinement at Guantanamo, until its closure, comply with the Geneva Conventions.

"The message that we are sending the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly and we are going to do so effectively and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals," Obama said after signing the order.

The executive order clearly comports with Obama's campaign pledge to close Gitmo, and now sets the timeline for one year. But there is still work to be done, and until the detention center actually closes, we'll keep the status at In the Works.

Sources:

Whitehouse.gov, Executive Order: Review and Disposition of Indiviuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base and Closure of Detention Facility , Jan. 22, 2009

Obama gets 120 days to review cases at Gitmo

Updated: Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 | By Robert Farley

On the day he was inaugurated, the Obama administration took a major step toward his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center when it directed prosecutors to file a motion seeking to suspend legal proceedings against detainees.

The motion asks for 120 days in order to give the administration "time to review the military commissions process, generally, and the cases currently before military commissions, specifically."

A judge in one of the war crimes cases, Army Col. Stephen Henley, issued a ruling Wednesday agreeing to suspend the proceedings at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pending the 120-day review.

According to the motion filed at the request of President Obama, the 120-day suspension of proceedings will provide the administration "time to conduct a review of detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to evaluate the cases of detainees not approved for release or transfer to determine whether prosecution may be warranted for any offenses those detainees may have committed, and to determine which forum best suits any future prosecution."

The review is seen as a major first step toward his promise of ultimately closing the controversial detention facility opened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It was hailed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights organizations that have criticized the legal processes at Guantanamo as unconstitutional.

"On Day One, President Obama kept his promise to halt the unconstitutional military commissions by ordering the prosecution to seek a 120-day suspension," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "Had the proceedings continued, the Bush administration would have permanently tied his hands and stopped him from being able to fulfill a top level campaign promise. Within the next 120 days, we trust that the President's team will be studying and finalizing plans and a timeline for permanently closing Guantanamo, shuttering the military commissions and ensuring justice is served in the best of American traditions. President Obama's 'time out' comes at the perfect time in these shameful military commissions and shows he means business on Day One. President Obama has to restore an America we can be proud of again by once and for all shutting down Guantanamo and its shameful military commissions."

There's still a ways to go for Obama to fulfill the promise of closing the facility. But this motion was a significant first step, enough for us to move the needle to In the Works.

Sources:

U.S. v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, et al., Request For 120-Day Continuance In The Interest Of Justice , Jan. 20, 2009

Washington Post, Obama Seeks Halt to Legal Proceedings at Guantanamo , by Peter Finn, Jan. 21, 2009