Torture, Gitmo, and the Treatment of Detainees: President Obama's Three Executive Orders for Thursda

[kpete]

Source: ABC News



Torture, Gitmo, and the Treatment of Detainees: President Obama's Three Executive Orders for Thursday

January 21, 2009 4:03 PM

White House Counsel Greg Craig went to Capitol Hill today to brief members of Congress about the three executive orders President Obama will sign tomorrow.

According to a former Hill aide, the orders will:

∙ close the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay within a year and establish a process by which the U.S. government figures out what to do with the remaining detainees;

∙ establish new rules on interrogation methods moving forward;

∙ establish new guidelines for the treatment of detainees moving forward.

-- jpt

Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/torture-gitmo-a.html

[Selatius]

1. Gitmo should be turned into a museum the way they turned Nazi concentration camps into museums.

It should stand as a stark reminder of America's sleepwalk towards totalitarianism.

[AlbertCat]

7. Yeah, but will Cubans enjoy it? Or even get to go?

[bemildred]

8. Give it back to Cuba, let them maintain the museum. nt

[Vattel]

2. good start.

I hope he and Congress pass better criminal laws against torture as well. Obama may not want to torture, but who knows about the next President? With criminal laws that clearly and unambiguously prohibit water-boarding and other "harsh interrogation techniques," it would be much more difficult for a future President to reinstitute policies of torture.

[az chela]

3. Why does it take a year??/That is insane

[MadMaddie]

4. Apparantly it's pretty legally complicated.

They have to analyze each prisoner and determine if there is enough credible evidence.

If there is enough evidence then they have to work them into the US legal system

If there is not enough evidence they have to see if the persons country will take them back, if the the home country doesn't the US has to find other countries.

And then there is the issue of illegal captivity and what the US will pay these people....

The complications goe on...

[Odin2005]

13. Also, some of these people risk being tortured if returned to thier home country.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. It takes a year because of the stupid military tribunals law passed by the congress

if not for that law, Obama could close the facility tomorrow.

[MasonJar]

5. Another year for detainees who have already given up six years?

[jody]

6. Obama should order all detainees who will not be prosecuted released immediately. DoD has had seven

years to investigate them and knows who is innocent. Probably 490+ of the 500 prisoners are innocent.

Obama needs to set them free, IMMEDIATELY.

[stillcool]

10. I don't think there are that many left..

like 200 or so. They've been releasing them in dribs and drabs, and in one shot they released 1/3 that were left. Some have been ordered released but have nowhere to go. The whole thing is beyond fucked up. Can you imagine if some other country did this?

[jody]

12. I believe there are about 500 with perhaps less than ten who will be prosecuted. Obama needs to

release them within days and order humane treatment yesterday.

[w8liftinglady]

9. I hope somewhere there is a provision for family detention centers

http://tdonhutto.blogspot.com/