Stop The Blame Game And Close Guantánamo, Says ACLU After Pessimistic Prognosis From Gates
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WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that congressional opposition makes the likelihood of closing the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, “very, very low.” Shortly after being sworn into office in 2009, President Obama signed an executive order for the prison to be shuttered.
The following can be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office:
“Since President Obama signed that welcome order to close the infamous prison at Guantánamo Bay, we’ve watched as the administration and Congress have taken turns repeatedly blaming each other for the failure to execute it. Nine years after the illegal and detrimental policy of indefinite detention began at Guantánamo, over 170 detainees remain there in legal limbo, a just resolution to their cases remains unachieved and the rule of law remains unserved.
“It is time for the administration and Congress to roll up their sleeves and get this done. Where credible evidence exists against detainees, they should be prosecuted in our criminal justice system. Where it doesn’t, they should be repatriated. There is no place for indefinite detention in American justice.”
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