detainees

al Qaeda, Barack Obama, detainees, Gitmo, Guantanamo, indefinite detention, Supermax

Supermax beds being cleared for Gitmo detainees; Sen. Inhofe asks ‘what kind of threat does this present to the American population?’

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Since June 30, President Barack Obama has cleared two dozen beds at Supermax for Gitmo detainees and today Senate Democrats will attempt to block a vote on Senator Jim Inhofe’s amendment [S.Amdt.1559] to the Defense Authorization bill (S.1390) for FY 2010. The amendment would prohibit the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo to any facility in the United States. (A final vote on the Defense authorization may come as early as this evening.) In addition, Senator Inhofe is also sponsoring the ‘Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Safe Closure Act of 2009’ (S.370). We join Sen. Inhofe in asking you to call your Senators [(202) 224-3121] today and demand that they go on record, to vote ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to keep terrorists out of America.

Previously, there was always a long waiting list to move infamous criminals, prisoners who had repeatedly assaulted guards or fellow prisoners, and high-security prisoners in grave danger in general population into Supermax. When President Obama took office there was one free bed. On June 30, 2009, Supermax inmate Eric Rudolph wrote Fox News saying it is already at capacity, “So even if they decide to move the detainees here I do not know where they would put them.”

Click on image to view the Bureau of Prison’s inmate population page

9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America asked Senator Inhofe for his reaction to the suddenly available space at Supermax:

Barack Obama, detainees, Gitmo, Guantanamo, indefinite detention, Military Commissions

Gitmo task force report: work half done; federal courts preferred; Congress reworking Military Commissions

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The Obama administration’s Guantanamo task force is far behind in determining the disposition of the 229 remaining detainees being held at Gitmo. As officials work with a very few in Congress to reach agreement on revisions to the Military Commissions Act, the task force received two and six-month deadline extensions today while presenting President Barack Obama an interim report on the due date of the final report. The language within it reflects the President’s desire to move as many cases to federal court as possible yet indicates rules of evidence may preclude that choice and the task force cannot easily reconcile administration views on “rule of law” with the Laws of War.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Six months before President Barack Obama’s self-imposed deadline to close the controversial detention center at Guantanamo Bay, senior administration officials said more European allies are offering to accept detainees from there, despite Congress’s refusal to allow any such transfers to the U.S.

But serious obstacles remain if the president’s closure deadline is to be met, including resolving which prisoners might be detained indefinitely without trial, where they would be detained once Guantanamo is shut and where future military commissions might be held. One presidential task force on future interrogation policies on Monday asked for a two-month extension for submitting a report that was originally due on Tuesday. Another task force on future detention policy asked for a six-month extension for its report.

“These are hard, complicated and consequential decisions,” one senior administration official said. “Let’s not kid ourselves.”

The Los Angeles Times reports al Qaeda’s lawyers are not happy: