by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The illegal prisons camps of Guantanamo Bay on the Island of Cuba will not be closed down any time soon and that despite of the promises made by US President Barack Obama when he took office.
The US government had to admit that the President's promise cannot and will not be met and that the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba will remain for some time to come and that the so-called “illegal enemy combatants” being held there and their future will remain in limbo.
The prison camp of Guantanamo Bay has been controversial from day one and the declaring of those there as “illegal enemy combatants” even more so. Human Rights campaigners and -organizations have been criticizing the conditions in the camps on Cuba. In addition to that the actions of the US soldiers and those of intelligence and security services personnel gave ammunition to Islamist anti-American propaganda, some not without reason, no doubt.
In spite of all these problems it will not be possible to close the prison camps on Guantanamo in the foreseeable future. President Obama had wanted to close down the Guantanamo prisons at the beginning of the year but, according to White House speaker Robert Gibbs, this has been prevented by “legal” reasons.
He said that it will take a “while” before the plans for the closure of the prisons at Guantanamo can be realized and put into practice. It turns out to be very difficult to put the inmates of the prisons through the American legal system or too deport them and budgetary constraints do not allow the building of an alternative prison nor does it make the transfer of the prisoners to existing American jails possible.
Mr Gibbs speculated that a draft is in existence for legislation that will make the unlimited detention of some – for this we should, maybe, read “all remaining” – prisoner at Guantanamo official. However, so it is said, it will given them, at the same time, the right to challenge the legality of their detention there. Please do not make me laugh.
For Gibbs stated further that some will of those prisoners, which are illegally held,and we must not forget that, will be held in detention at Guantanamo – or elsewhere in military jails – for ever.
Obama has, as said, made many promised that he has decided not to keep when he realized that there was opposition. He could close Guantanamo by executive order in the same way as he could have given the American people a decent health care system that would free at the point of delivery. But he has not been willing to use ExOs in those matters.
The majority of prisoners in the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay have been snatched from the streets of a variety of countries and brought there by extraordinary rendition, including from the streets of Britain and the fact that those people are being held there doe not make our streets any safer. In fact, it gives ammunition to all those that want to fight a jihad against the West.
America, which claims to be the great bastion of liberty, appears to be so different in reality. I mean when the President can even consider to sign the order to a US citizen who may, or may not, be a terrorist, living abroad to be “terminated with extreme prejudice” or when one wants to go after people who have embarrassed the US government like it was done by Wikileaks, what is one to think of that country? Bastion of liberty certainly does not come to mind.
© 2010
