Obama planning US trials for Guantanamo detainees

[sumi]

Laurence Tribe is pretty cool. We've read a lot of his stuff in Constitutional Law. I was surprised to learn a few months ago that he's Obama's legal adviser..



Obama planning US trials for Guantanamo detainees
By MATT APUZZO and LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writers
Mon Nov 10, 6:40 am ET

WASHINGTON – President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

A third group of detainees — the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information — might have to go before a new court designed especially to handle sensitive national security cases, according to advisers and Democrats involved in the talks. Advisers participating directly in the planning spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans aren't final.

The move would be a sharp deviation from the Bush administration, which established military tribunals to prosecute detainees at the Navy base in Cuba and strongly opposes bringing prisoners to the United States. Obama's Republican challenger, John McCain, had also pledged to close Guantanamo. But McCain opposed criminal trials, saying the Bush administration's tribunals should continue on U.S. soil.

The plan being developed by Obama's team has been championed by legal scholars from both political parties. But it is almost certain to face opposition from Republicans who oppose bringing terrorism suspects to the U.S. and from Democrats who oppose creating a new court system with fewer rights for detainees.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and Obama legal adviser, said discussions about plans for Guantanamo had been "theoretical" before the election but would quickly become very focused because closing the prison is a top priority. Bringing the detainees to the United States will be controversial, he said, but could be accomplished.

"I think the answer is going to be, they can be as securely guarded on U.S. soil as anywhere else," Tribe said. "We can't put people in a dungeon forever without processing whether they deserve to be there."

The tougher challenge will be allaying fears by Democrats who believe the Bush administration's military commissions were a farce and dislike the idea of giving detainees anything less than the full constitutional rights normally enjoyed by everyone on U.S. soil.

"There would be concern about establishing a completely new system," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and former federal prosecutor who is aware of the discussions in the Obama camp. "And in the sense that establishing a regimen of detention that includes American citizens and foreign nationals that takes place on U.S. soil and departs from the criminal justice system — trying to establish that would be very difficult."

Obama has said the civilian and military court-martial systems provide "a framework for dealing with the terrorists," and Tribe said the administration would look to those venues before creating a new legal system. But discussions of what a new system would look like have already started.

"It would have to be some sort of hybrid that involves military commissions that actually administer justice rather than just serve as kangaroo courts," Tribe said. "It will have to both be and appear to be fundamentally fair in light of the circumstances. I think people are going to give an Obama administration the benefit of the doubt in that regard."

Though a hybrid court may be unpopular, other advisers and Democrats involved in the Guantanamo Bay discussions say Obama has few other options.

Prosecuting all detainees in federal courts raises a host of problems. Evidence gathered through military interrogation or from intelligence sources might be thrown out. Defendants would have the right to confront witnesses, meaning undercover CIA officers or terrorist turncoats might have to take the stand, jeopardizing their cover and revealing classified intelligence tactics.

In theory, Obama could try to transplant the Bush administration's military commission system from Guantanamo Bay to a U.S. prison. But Tribe said, and other advisers agreed, that was "a nonstarter." With lax evidence rules and intense secrecy, the military commissions have been criticized by human rights groups, defense attorneys and even some military prosecutors who quit the process in protest.

"I don't think we need to completely reinvent the wheel, but we need a better tribunal process that is more transparent," Schiff said.

That means something different would need to be done if detainees couldn't be released or prosecuted in traditional courts. Exactly what that something would look like remains unclear.

According to three advisers participating in the process, Obama is expected to propose a new court system, appointing a committee to decide how such a court would operate. Some detainees likely would be returned to the countries where they were first captured for further detention or rehabilitation. The rest could probably be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts, one adviser said. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks, which have been private.

Whatever form it takes, Tribe said he expects Obama to move quickly.

"In reality and symbolically, the idea that we have people in legal black holes is an extremely serious black mark," Tribe said. "It has to be dealt with."

Print Story: Obama planning US trials for Guantanamo detainees - Yahoo! News

[Ibn Abu Ibrahim]

Alright, I'll say it. I'm impressed.

Although I knew Obama, or even Mccain, would close down Gitmo (in some form or another)...I didn't think it would be this much of a priority that Obama would plan for it pre-inauguration.

[LEGALEAGLE]

Ibn Abu Ibrahim said

Alright, I'll say it. I'm impressed.

Although I knew Obama, or even Mccain, would close down Gitmo (in some form or another)...I didn't think it would be this much of a priority that Obama would plan for it pre-inauguration.

He hasn't.

He's denied any such plan.

But Denis McDonough, a foreign policy adviser to Obama, said the nascent administration would wait until its national security and legal teams are in place before determining how to proceed.

"President-elect Obama said throughout his campaign that the legal framework at Guantanamo has failed to successfully and swiftly prosecute terrorists, and he shares the broad bipartisan belief that Guantanamo should be closed," McDonough said in a statement. "There is absolutely no truth to reports that a decision has been made about how and where to try the detainees, and there is no process in place to make that decision until his national security and legal teams are assembled."

New Gitmo policy will take time to formulate, advisers say -- chicagotribune.com

Check your facts before getting all excited like...

[Sopia]

I think this is a good thought and hope this will become true.......one very good impression on the whole world.

[MrZ]

LEGALEAGLE said

He hasn't.

He's denied any such plan.



Check your facts before getting all excited like...

Don't be so sensationalist. The AP article never said they reached a decision either (very different than coming up with a plan)... and how can they? He's not in office yet.

[amina9183]

His stance on the issue is very different than that of McCain. Although McCain planned on shutting the place down as well, he didnt plan on giving them the rights that prisoners in this country have. Many of the detainees would be released, and the ones that arent would not be tortured or any of the other cruel stuff that happened in guantanamo. He said guantanamo is "a sad chapter in the history of the US." He acknowledged the the fact that this was unjust, whereas McCain says that he would close it down but the way they were handled is just fine. Stop freakin complaining. It was going to be either McCain or Obama. We are better off right now, so get over it.

Its interesting that even when he does something right, people find the negative in it and claim you cant say hes doing xyz cuz [insert whatever reason here], but then when there is something potentially disappointing, its a hard fact and you cant change it and we already know.

dumb.

[sumi]

^ word. i think i've officially decided not to join the obama-hating bandwagon.. people need to calm the hell down. he's not in office yet. a transition team is very different from the actual cabinet. and even then, as mossad pointed out, the president may still do what he decides to do and disregard cabinet advice.

[LEGALEAGLE]

MuslimZ said

Don't be so sensationalist. The AP article never said they reached a decision either (very different than coming up with a plan)... and how can they? He's not in office yet.

I'm not the one going... Obama...OMG....did you seee that ?!!...he looked at me......OMG what shall I do ? ...Is he still looking ?...



this is how people sleepwalk into disaster...

[sumi]

LEGALEAGLE said

I'm not the one going... Obama...OMG....did you seee that ?!!...he looked at me......OMG what shall I do ? ...Is he still looking ?...



this is how people sleepwalk into disaster...

unless you've managed to misread almost every single post in here or in the election thread (which, judging by your recent posts, is more than likely), you'd know that no one here is sleepwalking into disaster.

[wheelworks]

When the British start talking about American politics we need a bicycle in the house. Teehee

[Ahmad89]

Do you know that Guantanamo is Spanish for "sh**-hole"