House of Reps votes to prohibit Guantanamo detainees from being transfered to US

AP: Of the 800 prisoners who have passed through the Guantanamo
Bay prison, 223 remain.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to forbid any detainee from Guantánamo Bay prison from being transferred to the United States for either prosecution or continued detention. The measure, sponsored by Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY), passed 258-163.

“[T]his motion prohibits the granting of any immigration benefit for any reason,” Rogers said. “Without such a benefit, there is no legal way to bring these terrorists to American soil and in our constituents' backyards. And, that means these terrorists cannot be granted the same constitutional rights as American citizens. After all, these detainees are enemy combatants, caught on the battlefield. They are not common criminals and they should not be granted legal standing in our criminal courts by bringing them onto U.S. soil.”

The measure is a non-binding recommendation for the 2010 Homeland Security Department Appropriations Bill. It received wide Republican support, as well as yes votes from 88 Democrats. Prior to this vote, Congress had been considering transferring some prisoners to maximum-security prisons in either Michigan or Kansas.

This vote is yet another blow to President Barack Obama’s promise to close Guantánamo by January 2010. Today, 223 detainees remain of the approximately 800 once held in the prison. The administration expects to transfer about 80 detainees to be repatriated or given asylum in third-party friendly countries. Two Uzbek detainees were sent to Ireland just this week. Moving detainees has not proven to be either quick or easy, however. (See The New York Times story on Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed for a poignant example.)

Approximately 60 detainees will be prosecuted.

The remainder of the detainees are considered by the government to be too dangerous to release. They will likely be held indefinitely without charges. The Justice Department (DOJ) released a statement this week saying it would not pursue any new legislation to this end, but that “the administration would rely on authority already provided by Congress” under the use of force resolution. DOJ did promised to continue habeas corpus hearings for these detainees. This legal decision applies to those already in detention who are considered a threat to national security, but cannot be brought to trial for reasons such as evidence fouled by extreme interrogations.

The balance between national security and concerns of due process and human rights is the question at the crux of this issue. Congress has been working on ways to amend the military commissions which were in place during the last administration to try the so-called “enemy combatants.” The reforms are designed to provide more protection and rights to the defendants, although the courts will likely still be military commissions, rather than civilian courts.

Others, like the gathering of retired generals and admirals who met on Capitol Hill this week, argue that Guantánamo must be closed as soon as possible and those preventing this are “fear-mongering.” This argument states that Guantánamo only serves to radicalize the detainees and create propaganda for terrorists.

Further, the argument runs that transferring detainees to the United States for criminal trials is possible as federal courts are already equipped to handle cases with classified information. This stands in direct contradiction to Rep. Rogers’ measurement.

President Obama faces an uphill battle to achieve his stated goal of closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay by January. Measures like Rep. Rogers’ will make this deadline all but impossible to meet and the debate between national security and human rights will continue to rage around Guantánamo.