Obama and Guantánamo

Around 80 of them have been deemed eligible for trial under the military commissions established by the US Congress in the 2006 Military Commissions Act. Some 125 prisoners fall into a no-man’s land—they are considered too dangerous to release but not guilty enough to prosecute. The remaining 50 or so have been cleared for release or transfer, but in many cases returning them to their home countries may subject them to further incarceration or torture.

An article appearing in the November 14 New York Times reported that within the Obama camp there is an intense debate on these matters. According to the Times, “people with ties to the Obama transition team say [what] is worrying them most: What if some detainees are acquitted or cannot be prosecuted at all?”

This is a reference to those whose prosecutions are irretrievably tainted by alleged confessions or testimony obtained through torture or other coercive means, or regarding whom specific evidence of war crimes is otherwise sorely lacking.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/guan-n21.shtml