14 December 2006
U.S. Transfers 16 Detainees to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo, December 14, 2006(Another 100 detainees await transfer or release to nations willing to take them)
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
USINFO Staff Writer
Washington -– The Defense Department announced December 14 that 16 individuals who had been held in U.S. military custody at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base as part of the global war against terrorism have been sent to Saudi Arabia.
These detainees were transferred following a review by an administrative board that found they no longer pose a threat to U.S. or allied interests.
The United States has been negotiating with other countries to accept another 100 detainees who are eligible to be set free inside another willing country or to be transferred into the custody of a nation willing to accept that responsibility. John Bellinger, the State Department’s legal adviser, remarked at the Harvard Law School November 3 that “we are not anxious to continue holding them for very long.”
The problem facing the United States is that many nations do not wish to accept the detainees, he explained, and some countries even deny that certain individuals are their nationals.
Bellinger said President Bush is serious about wanting to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo. The president and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice well understand, he said, that the detainee issue causes problems around the world for the United States.
Since 2002, 360 detainees have left Guantanamo for Albania, Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, the Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom and Yemen. In calendar year 2006 alone, 96 detainees were flown out of Guantanamo.
Individuals who are not eligible for release or transfer because they continue to pose a threat in the ongoing prosecution of the war against terrorism will be tried according to rules established by the Military Commissions Act passed by the 109th Congress.
Bellinger said at a Duke Law School presentation November 15 that the legislation provides an appropriate legal framework for the trials because it “provides all of the fundamental guarantees for fairness and due process” and addresses many concerns expressed by Congress and the international community. (See related article.)
As an example, the legal adviser said the accused can appeal to the Circuit Court in the District of Columbia and even pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But that might not be necessary, he said, because the U.S. system of military justice has a long and honorable tradition “worthy of respect in both its design and … function.” Bellinger said judges adjudicating cases in the military system are even “more independent and less political than federal judges.”
The full texts of Bellinger’s most recent remarks are available on the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser Web site.
For additional information about military commissions and related issues, see Detainee Issues and Response to Terrorism.
