Obama task force backs indefinite detention without trial

The interim report and the accompanying press briefing—where four high-ranking White House officials spoke under the proviso that the media would not reveal their names—point to the formation of a threefold approach to dealing with the 229 remaining Guantánamo detainees as well as future captives. Of those who cannot be shifted to other nations or detention facilities, some may face criminal trial under US law, some would face military commissions, and some would be placed in indefinite detention without any sort of trial.

Criminal trials will be the least likely route for prisoners, the preliminary report and the press briefing seem to suggest. The report declares that criminal courts will be used “where feasible,” but leaves no doubt that what it means by “feasible” is the a priori certainty of a guilty verdict.

“Federal courts have on many occasions proven they can meet the challenges of international terrorism prosecutions and the legitimacy of their verdicts is unquestioned,” according to the report. The passage boasts of the criminal code’s “extraterritorial reach” through anti-terrorism legislation, and says that “experienced prosecutors often find ways to overcome any challenges” to the introduction of legally-dubious evidence.

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