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bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
=== News Update ===
Guantanamo Detainees To Be Held Even Without Evidence
CON COUGHLIN - The Daily Telegraph
gitmo.jpeg
December 15, 2006
WASHINGTON — The hard core of detainees held at America's Guantanamo Bay
detention camp will be held indefinitely even if there is insufficient
evidence to bring them to trial, a senior Bush administration official
said.
Of the 435 detainees being held at Guantanamo, only 10 have so far been
charged with terrorism-related offenses. A further 14 detainees — the
so-called high value detainees such as the alleged mastermind of the
September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — are also expected to face
trial now that the U.S. Congress has passed the Military Commission Act,
which will finally enable America to commence trials of Guantanamo
detainees next year.
But of the remainder, an estimated 200 detainees face being held
indefinitely at Guantanamo because they are deemed a threat to
international security even though there is insufficient evidence to
bring them before a military commission.
John Bellinger, the legal adviser at the U.S. State Department who is
responsible for defending Guantanamo's legal status, said the hard core
of the detainees will continue to be held indefinitely either because
they are considered a security threat or because there is nowhere to
send them if the military authorities at Guantanamo decide to release
them.
"The remaining people — other than the ones who have been approved for
release — really do pose a threat," Mr. Bellinger said in an exclusive
interview with the Daily Telegraph. "Ten percent of the people we have
released have gone right back to fighting generally in Afghanistan. It's
hard to tell exactly how many people would go back to actual acts of
terrorism, or whether they would just go back to fighting in
Afghanistan."
And despite repeated calls for the Bush administration to close
Guantanamo, Mr. Bellinger was insistent that the American detention camp
in Cuba would continue to hold detainees that were deemed a security
risk.
"There are at this point no plans to transfer those people from
Guantanamo out of Guantanamo," he said. "At this point the trials will
be held on Guantanamo."
More than 700 people have been held at Guantanamo during the past five
years. Most of them were detained during the war in Afghanistan to
overthrow the Taliban in late 2001, while others have been transferred
to the camp after being detained as part of America's global war against
international terrorism.
All the detainees receive a yearly combatant status review tribunal at
which American military officials determine whether or not individuals
continue to pose a security threat. Nearly 300 detainees have so far
been released, and Mr. Bellinger said a further 100 had been cleared for
release.
But Mr. Bellinger said Washington had been frustrated in its attempts to
reduce the number of people being held at Guantanamo by the refusal of
countries to accept released detainees.
"Many countries will just not take their nationals back," said Mr.
Bellinger. "We think it is somewhat hypocritical of international
critics to keep calling for the closure of Guantanamo without offering a
place for any of these individuals."
But, Mr. Bellinger insisted, those detainees who are still classified a
security risk will continue to be held at Guantanamo indefinitely. "When
people say Guantanamo should be closed, do they really want" the
detainees "to be released outright into their countries where they might
go out and continue to pose a threat to the international community?"
In the case of alleged high-value detainees such as Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, they might never be released, even if it was not possible to
bring a successful prosecution against them. "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is
unlikely to be sent anywhere" other than Guantanamo, he said.
source:
http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=45212
===
-muslim voice-
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