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Get On With It at Gitmo
Editorial
May 30, 2006
The Oakland Tribune
THE U.S. government knows it's holding innocent people in the GuantanamoBay military prison, but it is in no rush to release them.
In fact, 38 prisoners have been declared to be "no longer enemy combatants," according to military documents. Some were caught up in sweeps after the invasion of Afghanistan; others were sold to U.S. forces.
Military tribunals have determined that these people have been mistakenly held and that there is no evidence they are connected to terrorism, yet they continue to languish in tiny cells in Cuba. If that's true, the military's designation is misleading - the inmates not only are "no longer" enemy combatants, they never were. In some cases, those who have been cleared tell of being sold to the Americans by ruthless countrymen eager to make a buck.
Most of Gitmo's 460 guests have been held for more than four years without charges. On Friday, a U.N. panel called for the facility to close, saying it violates the 1984 Convention Against Torture.
Holding suspects indefinitely without charges is antithetical to American values, morals and the justice system. That the U.S. knows some of the prisoners are innocent makes it worse. It's time for the Bush administration to release those it knows are innocent and allow the rest to have their day in court.
We can understand the need to have a short-term holding facility for terrorism suspects, but it's an outrage that innocent people are being held indefinitely.
The administration says it's holding some inmates because it may not be safe for them to return to their countries of origin. After essentially kidnapping them from their native land, it's curious that the White House is suddenly acting so concerned about their safety. There's no reason not to grant them asylum if they truly are innocent.
Bush says he is waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on whether military tribunals can be used to try prisoners, but it sounds like another delaying tactic. The high court didn't rule in his favor when it found that Guantanamo inmates have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts, even though the prison is located on foreign soil.
The facility has become a black eye for the United States. Give the inmates their day in court, punish the guilty and let the innocent go free.
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