Barack Obama has announced a new process for continuing to hold those detainees not charged but deemed 'too dangerous' to be freed. Obama has decided to lift the two-year freeze on new military trials for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The measures are believed to broaden US ability to bring terrorists to justice.
The decision comes long after President Obama had pledged in January 2009 to close the Guantanamo prison within a year.''The American system of justice is a key part of our arsenal in the war against al-Qaeda and its affiliates," Mr Obama has said in a statement.The statement says that military commissions would ensure that US security and values are strengthened.
The White House has said Obama will still be committed to the eventual closure of the prison.
An order was issued by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates revoking the previous suspension on referring of new charges in the military commissions.New military commissions had been suspended since January 2009.The news about new commissions comes as the Afghan High Peace Council has been making efforts to get a number of Taliban members freed from Guantanamo detention.
The Council believes some of the key Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo could play an important role in peace talks with the Taliban if they are freed. Afghanistan Transitional Justice Group has recently expressed concern about peace talks with the Taliban and has emphasised that justice should never be ignored in any kinds of talks. The Transitional Justice Group has stressed that the Guantanamo prisoners must not be released without trial.
Obama folds to the military and the hawks yet again. What a shell of a man. What a hollow administration.
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