A New York Times editorial starts with the factual assertion that “30 men . . . [are] still imprisoned at the U.S. naval base whose name has become synonymous with American shame.” Although President Biden “said at the outset of his administration that he would seek to have the detention center closed . . . the moral imperative and the ethical case for doing so has only gotten stronger with time.”[1]
Such closure, per the editorial, requires the President “to find countries willing to take 16 [of them] who are deemed to post no terror threat and have been cleared to leave” and “to clarify the ‘policy principles that would open the way for plea bargains for those [14] cases in which convictions are no longer possible.”
Although the President “has full authority to clear these hurdles and either repatriate the remaining prisoners or get them to a plea bargain,” he “needs to ensure that the task has the highest priority.”
The editorial concluded with testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee from Retired Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker, who had served as chief defense counsel at the base for six and a half years. “The best that can be hoped for at this point, more than 20 years after the crimes were committed, is to bring this sordid chapter of American history to an end. And that end can only come through a negotiated resolution of the cases.”
Other Recent Developments Regarding Guantanamo
The editorial started by acknowledging that after nearly 21 years of detention the U.S. had just released an Algerian to his home country after never having been charged with any crimes by the U.S. [2]
On the same day as the editorial, a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed alarm about deteriorating health conditions and inadequate preparations for aging prisoners at Guantanamo.[3]
Earlier this month the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, en banc, refused to rule on whether a Guantanamo detainee from Yemen who had been detained in Guantanamo for 20 years had due process rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment and remanded the case to the district court to determine whether he should be released because the U.S. no longer considers him to be a security threat.[4]
Conclusion
Release all the prisoners and close Guantanamo as soon as possible!
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[1] Editorial, Biden Can Close the Legal Black Hole at Guantanamo, N.Y. Times (April 29, 2023)
[2] Rosenberg, Pentagon’s Repatriation of Algerian Leaves 30 Prisoners at Guantanamo, N.Y. Times (April 20, 2023)
[3] Rosenberg, Red Cross Expresses Alarm Over Detainee Health at Guantanamo Bay, N.Y. Times (April 21, 2023)
[4] Weiner & Hsu, Divided court leaves constitutional issue at Guantanamo unresolved, Wash. Post (April 12, 2023); Opinion, Al-Hela v. Biden, U.S. Court of Appeals, No. 19-5079 (D.C. Cir. April 4 & 12, 2023).
