One of Obama's first acts in office (first term) was to sign an executive order closing down the Detention Camp in Guantanamo Bay, as he promised in his campaign. Yet six months into the new administration, a Democratically controlled Congress passed legislation that prevented the president from moving any Guantanamo Detainees into the United States or other countries. It seemed that the battle to close Guantanamo Bay would be much more politically challenging than Obama expected; "the 'keep Guantanamo' constituency was actually much more politically powerful ... than the administration had anticipated," says Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brooking Institution (NPR). Benjamin Wittes also stated "with other competing priorities on the boil, such as a stimulus plan and health care, the president had to decide whether closing Guantanamo was a priority." Since the facility is still open today, it was obviously overlooked as a political priority.
Andrea Prasow, a counter terrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch, states that the president's unwillingness or inability to fight hard to close Guantanamo has been disappointing.
"I — like many people in the human-rights community — took the president at his word when he said he would close Guantanamo," Prasow says. "But the fact that not only is it [still] open, but there's no pathway towards its closure and towards ending indefinite detention is one of the great tragedies of Obama's first term (NPR)."
The UN Rights Chief has also spoken out against the US failure to close Guantanamo detention facility:
“It is 10 years since the US Government opened the prison at Guantanamo, and now three years since 22 January 2009, when the President ordered its closure within 12 months” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also stated in a news release. “Yet the facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained – indefinitely – in clear breach of international law,” she added (UN).
MANY OF THE DETAINEES BEING HELD HAVE NOT BEEN FORMERLY CHARGED OF A CRIME
The continued existence of Guantanamo is troubling because of what the facility has come to represent. It is a place where roughly 200 prisoners are being held - most of whom have not been formally charged with a crime or tried in court. Many of the men were captured with flimsy evidence, and yet are still being held for an indeterminate amount of time.
The release of the Guantanamo Bay File Leaks in April 25th 2011 made the identities of 779 formerly secret prisoners public, which unleashed some troubling facts.
"US authorities relied heavily on information obtained from a small number of detainees under torture. They continued to maintain this testimony was reliable even after admitting that the prisoners who provided it had been mistreated [and]...A number of British nationals and residents were held for years even though US authorities knew they were not Taliban or Al-Qaeda members. One Briton, Jamal al-Harith, was rendered to Guantanamo simply because he had been held in a Taliban prison and was thought to have knowledge of their interrogation techniques. The US military tried to hang on to another Briton, Binyam Mohamed, even after charges had been dropped and evidence emerged he had been tortured (The Guardian)."
86 PRISONERS RECOMMENDED FOR RELEASE IN 2009 STILL IN GUANTANAMO
The other troubling fact is that 86 of these prisoners were recommended for release in 2009, but remain imprisoned to this day. A Guantanamo Bay task force made up of officials and lawyers from relevant government departments and intelligence agencies wrote a final report about this matter in 2010. The continued imprisonment of these 86 detainees is not a reflection of any wrong doing on their part, but in the fact that they are involved in a complex political and diplomatic hurdles beyond their control. There are fears that these prisoners might commit an act of terrorism if they are released, which could be politically toxic for the Obama administration. Yet the fact that these 86 men remain in prison reflects blatant dishonesty on the part of Obama. He has reneged on his promises to set these men free and has let political fears govern his policy in this matter.
The president cannot also blame congress or the political situation for the inability to release these prisoners. There is a national security waiver that allows a clear route for the transfer of the detainees to other countries in appropriate cases. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 gives the President the legal authority to transfer the detainees from Guantanamo back to their home countries.
The fact that these men aren't free is a reflection of deliberate lies on the part of President Obama. This has become a large concern for Yemen, given that they have the largest numbers of prisoners in Guantanamo. Over 90 of the 166 prisoners are from Yemen and 56 of them were cleared for relase by President Obama in 2009. But then there was the Christmas Day attempt to bomb an aircraft in Detroit, and so Obama placed a moratorium on the transfer of the Yemen detainees. The failed suicide bomber, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, who had hidden plastic explosives in his underwear, told U.S. investigators that he’d been recruited for the mission in Yemen by Anwar al Awlaki, the US-born cleric who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Another reason the prisoners haven't been released is because of questionable stability in Yemen:
Human Rights Minister Hooria Mashoohouras heard US officials say that Yemeni government is not stable enough or strong enough to make sure the released prisoners don’t take up arms against America. They have told her that even if some of the prisoners were totally innocent and unjustly imprisoned, now—after 11 years behind bars—they probably hate the US so much that they’ll want revenge. In our meeting with Mashoohourshe threw up her arms in exasperation. “So you abuse these men and then you keep abusing them because they might hate you for your abuse? Is that the way the US justice system works?,” she asked (Common Dreams 6-20-13).
Another obstacle the US government has put in place is that it wants Yemen to set up a rehabilitation center, but it has not committed money to fund it. The US Congress is also trying to cut off funds that could be used to send the prisoners home. The Congressional amendment passed on June 14 is designed just for Yemen, prohibiting Department of Defense funds from being used to repatriate Yemenis (Common Dreams 6-20-13).
In effect, this situation is establishing a precedent of holding detainees as guilty until proven innocent and locking people up for potential crimes, rather than arresting criminals for proven crimes. (Washington Post).
After Obama has failed to close the prison, many prisoners are taking the only exit available to them now. 103 detainees are on a hunger strike and 41 are being force fed (Washington Post).
OBAMA'S FAILED PROMISES TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY
Obama's Failed Promise to Close Gitmo: A Timeline (The Atlantic Wire, 1-28-13)
UN rights chief speaks out against US failure to close Guantanamo detention facility (UN. 1-23-13)
Obama's Promise To Close Guantanamo Prison Falls Short (NPR, 1-23-13)
Obama, keep your vow to close Gitmo (CNN, 1-11-13)
HUNGER STRIKE
Beatings, Attempted Suicides and Deliberate Starvation: The Dystopic Hell of Guantanamo Bay (Alternet, 4-12-13)
Hunger Striking at Guantanamo Bay (New York Times, 4-14-13)
RELATED LINKS
How You (And President Obama) Can Close Guantanamo Prison (Alternet, 7-2-13)
Why We Have Cautious Optimism Regarding President Obama's Plans for Guantanamo (Close Guantanamo)
For Yemenis, US Refusal to Release Gitmo Prisoners is a National Offense (Common Dreams, 6-20-13)
ACLU Statement on President's Guantánamo Comments (ACLU, 4-30-13)
Kafka at Gitmo: Why 86 prisoners are cleared for release but might never get it (Washington Post, 4-25-13)