News on Guantanamo Bay

With no end in sight, Guantanamo work goes on

2011-11-11T13:30:43Z

In the midst of the barbed wire and watchtowers dotting Guantanamo's green hills, construction workers continue to build despite US President Barack Obama's promise to close the prison.

Nearly 10 years since the first handful of detainees arrived at the US naval base in southern Cuba from President Barack Obama has lifted a ban on new military trials for Guantanamo Bay terror suspects, apparently conceding that the camp he has vowed to close will not be emptied any time soon.

Obama also issued new guidelines to ensure humane and lawful treatment of suspects deemed too dangerous to release, but officials insisted he was still determined to shutter the c...

Guantanamo still open as 9th anniversary looms

2011-01-10T02:30:29Z

Almost nine years ago to the day, a prison for "war on terror" detainees opened its doors in a remote US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And despite grand promises, it is unlikely to shut any time soon.

"At this point, it is clear that Guantanamo will not be closed during this presidential term, or maybe even the next one, despite administration claims that it remains committed to the goal," Guantanamo trial of Barack Obama's presidency opened Tuesday with Canadian detainee Omar Khadr, who was captured by US troops in Afghanistan at age 15, facing a military tribunal.

Khadr appeared i...

Obama's security stands raise eyebrows to his left

2010-10-13T14:07:24Z

From indefinite detention of terror suspects, to closed military commissions, low transparency, and targeted drone hits: Barack Obama's administration and its security stands have raised eyebrows of many of those to his own left.

Indeed, some fear he is following in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush, a national security hardliner.

In a review of Ob...

Essential Summer Reading, National Security

2010-09-10T12:25:47Z

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Bush Law Continued

2010-11-02T15:26:01Z

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US to transfer Guantanamo prisoner to Yemen: report

2010-06-26T08:15:37Z

The Obama administration plans to transfer a Guantanamo detainee to Yemen despite its ban on the repatriations due to security concerns in the Arab country, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The administration's January decision on Guant...

'Modifying' Miranda modifies the political debate

2010-06-12T19:29:17Z

Mirandizing the political conversation: Obama administration gains a little breathing room

Hammered for months by Republicans as soft on terrorism, Attorney General Eric Holder and the rest of the Obama administration are suddenly playing offense, offering to work with Congress on a ...

5 Chinese Muslims at Gitmo seek a better deal

2010-04-22T15:00:42Z

Obama administration tries to block court review in case of 5 ethnic Chinese Muslims at Gitmo

The Obama administration on Thursday sought to block further court review in the case of five Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay who want to be sent to the United States or another country where t...

Justice Department witchhunt backfires in US

2010-06-26T03:09:40Z

A witchhunt orchestrated by George W. Bush supporters against government lawyers representing Guantanamo inmates has backfired, as conservatives joined the outcry against the McCarthy-like attacks.

"Who are these government officials? Eric Holder would only name two. What's the secrecy behind the other seven? W...

Obama nears compromise on Guantanamo trials

2010-03-10T12:16:12Z

President Barack Obama appears near a compromise to allow military tribunals to move forward for the alleged September 11 plotters in exchange for a deal to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Influential Republican Senator Lindsey Lindsey Graham has offered a deal that would allow Obam...

GOP senator urges Obama to shift on terror trials

2010-03-08T06:00:39Z

Graham says he'll press his GOP colleagues to back Guantanamo closing if Obama backs tribunals

A Republican senator is offering the White House a deal on terror trials.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says that if the ...

Rights groups warn Obama on 9/11 trial U-turn

2010-06-12T18:12:39Z

Human rights advocates voiced dismay Friday at signals President Barack Obama is considering a military tribunal for the September 11 plotters, backtracking on a plan for a civilian trial.

The U-turn would reportedly be part of a compromise with Congress in hopes that Republicans would agree to help Obama on another key goal -- closing the military priso...

WH may switch to military trials for 9/11 suspects

2010-06-26T03:02:14Z

No New York: White House may switch to military trial for 9/11 suspect Khalid Sheik Mohammed

Looking to breathe life into President Barack Obama's stalled pledge to close the Reuters) - The Obama administration bluntly urged the Congress on Thursday to steer clear of directing where terrorism suspects should be prosecuted, pushing back against efforts to require military rather than civilian trials.

A bipartisan group of senators has offered legislation aimed at forcing the administration to prosecute terrorism suspects, ...

Obama seeks money for terrorism trials, prison

2010-04-16T07:14:16Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday proposed spending $73 million to prosecute the five accused September 11 conspirators and one official said the trials could still be held in the heart of Manhattan.

Facing a surge of bipartisan opposition to prosecuting self-proclaimed attack mastermind

Accused 9/11 plotter likely to face execution

2010-04-16T07:17:06Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accused September 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried and convicted and is likely to be executed, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Sunday.

Interviewed on Obama administration wants to keep some 50 Guantanamo detainees locked up indefinitely because they are too dangerous to release and evidence against them is insufficient for a criminal trial, the Washington Post said Friday.

On the anniversary of President Barack Obama's executi...

Obama failed to probe Gitmo deaths, charity says

2010-04-16T07:31:16Z

LONDON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has failed to properly investigate evidence suggesting suicides by two Saudis and a Yemeni held at Guantanamo Bay in 2006 were "homicides", a UK-based legal charity said on Tuesday.

The President Barack Obama is to transfer dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees to a jail in rural Illinois as he battles to close the notorious facility on Cuba's southern tip, officials said.

"The president has directed, with our unanimous support, that the federal government proceed...

U.S. to move some Guantanamo prisoners to Illinois

2010-06-25T19:20:58Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Tuesday it will move some Guantanamo Bay detainees to an Illinois prison and hold U.S. military commission trials there in plans immediately...

Bulgaria may house Guantanamo detainee: PM

2010-06-25T19:22:18Z

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria should accept one detainee from the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba after a request from Washington to house prisoners, Prim...

Illinois prison in focus for Guantanamo detainees

2010-04-16T08:27:54Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has focused on an Illinois prison as it searches for a facility to house terrorism suspects now at Guantanamo Bay, but has not made a final decision, Illinois officials said on Friday.

Democratic Reuters) - An Algerian man who had been detained at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo in Cuba since 2002 has been transferred to France, the French Foreign Ministry said on T...

Obama concedes delay in closing Guantanamo

2010-10-22T13:35:24Z

US President Barack Obama admitted for the first time on Wednesday that the United States would miss the January 2010 deadline he set for closing the US war on terror prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Guantanamo -- we had a specific deadline that was missed," Obama told Republicans on Sunday lashed out at the administration's decision to try five alleged plotters of the 9/11 attacks in a New York civilian court, saying it would harm efforts to fight terrorism.

While President Barack Obama's team defended the move, his political foes said the men, including allege...

Illinois prison eyed to house Guantanamo detainees

2010-06-25T19:49:00Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Obama administration officials will visit a virtually empty Illinois prison this week as a possible location to house foreign terrorism suspects moved from the Guantanamo Bay prison President Bara...

Obama may not meet Guantanamo deadline: top aide

2010-04-16T09:08:30Z

US President Barack Obama remains committed to closing the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, but may not meet a January 2010 deadline, a top White House aide said on Sunday.

"We believe we are going to substantially meet the deadline," David Axelrod

Obama to meet Guantanamo deadline: top aide

2010-04-16T09:08:35Z

US President Barack Obama remains committed to closing the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, but may not meet a January 2010 deadline, a top White House aide said on Sunday.

"We believe we are going to substantially meet the deadline," David Axelrod

Top Obama lawyer quits amid Guantanamo setbacks

2010-06-25T19:48:04Z

President Barack Obama's top lawyer Greg Craig formally resigned Friday in his highest-level White House shake-up to date, amid a struggle to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp by early 2010.

Craig, a veteran Obama administration said Monday it has taken a "major step" toward closing the Guantanamo Bay prison now that the Pacific island nation of Palau has resettled six Chinese Muslim Uighurs.

The six, who had been held for more than seven years at the US naval base in <...

Obama revives military trials at Guantanamo

2010-04-16T09:34:10Z

Terror detainees get stronger rights in military trials; critics say new rules aren't enough

President Barack Obama brought back Bush-era military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday by signing new rules into law that will give detainees stronger legal rights in court.

Obama approved the new rules — most of which he propos...

US bands blast use of music in Guantanamo interrogations

2010-04-16T09:41:50Z

A group of top US acts including REM and Pearl Jam on Thursday expressed outrage that loud music was being blasted at Guantanamo detainees as part of "terror" interrogations.

They said they were filing a lawsuit in a bid to declassify documents on the use of the music, and joining the "National Campaign to Close Guan...

Judge rules for government on detainee documents

2010-06-25T20:15:29Z

Judge keeps secret portions of detainee interrogation documents that may describe abuse

A federal judge ruled Friday in a case on detainees at Guantanamo Bay that the government can maintain the secrecy of portions of some records that allegedly describe torture and abuse.

The American Civil Liberties Union h...

House backs Guantanamo prisoner transfer

2010-06-25T20:16:30Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to allow foreign terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States to face trial.

The 307 to 114 vote removes one of ma...

Obama, liberals split on security and media issues

2010-06-25T20:16:45Z

Privacy, anti-terrorism, media issues divide Obama and his liberal allies in Congress

New cracks are opening in the relationship between President Barack Obama and his liberal allies in Congress over his desire to continue some Bush-era tactics against terrorism and his opposition to protecting reporters from revealing their sources in national security cases.

Some supporters are grousing that Obama, ju...

U.S. lawmakers agree to Guantanamo prisoner transfer

2010-06-25T20:22:12Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers reached an agreement on Wednesday that would allow the Obama administration to bring more terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay prison to the United States to face trial.

The agreement removes one of man...

Obama aide hopes Gitmo closing deadline can be met

2010-04-16T09:59:44Z

Obama adviser hopes administration can meet Obama's January deadline to close Guantanamo

The White House's national security adviser says the Obama administration is hard at work on fulfilling President Barack Obama's deadline to shut down the Guantanamo detention center for suspected terr...

Obama team clears 75 at Guantanamo for release

2010-04-16T10:06:11Z

MIAMI (Reuters) - An Obama administration task force has so far cleared 75 of the remaining 223 Guantanamo prisoners for release as part of its effort to close the detention camp, a military spokesman said on Monday.

The review team is examining each prisoner's ...

White House downplays Guantanamo deadline

2010-04-16T10:05:56Z

The White House on Monday sent fresh signals that it may miss President Barack Obama's self-imposed January deadline to close the US camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"We're not focused on whether or not the deadline will or won't be met on a particular day," said White House spokesman

Guantanamo court "a headless chicken": lawyer

2010-04-16T10:10:13Z

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The Guantanamo war crimes court has become "a headless chicken" that still operates under the old rules even as the Obama administration issues new ones, the lawyer for an accused Saudi boat-bomb plotter said on Wednesday...

Alleged 9/11 plotters in Guantanamo no-show

2010-04-16T10:12:19Z

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and two suspected fellow plotters refused Monday to attend a Guantanamo military court hearing.

Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, ...

No-show by 9/11 accused at Guantanamo hearing

2010-04-16T10:12:24Z

Three men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks, including mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, refused Monday to appear at a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay.

Judge Stephen Henley turned down a government request to force the alleged orchestrators of the 2001 atrocities to leave th...

Judge grants US delay in alleged 9/11 plotters case

2010-04-16T10:12:30Z

A military judge here granted a US administration request Monday to delay for 60 days the hearings in the case against five men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks.

President Barack Obama, who has ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, has orde...

Ex-Guantanamo detainee Jawad sent to Afghanistan

2010-04-16T10:40:25Z

Mohammed Jawad, 19, one of the youngest detainees held at the US "war on terror" prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was released Monday and sent back to his native Afghanistan, his lawyer said.

The announcement days after the White House said a group of six detainees would be freed shortly, as Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday released a detainee from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent him home to Afghanistan, the latest departure from the controvers...

Loudly, some Kansans reject Guantanamo detainees

2010-06-25T21:13:11Z

LEAVENWORTH, Kansas (Reuters) - Not in my backyard! Not in my state! Not in my country!

That was the response from politicians and business leaders in Kansas on Monday to moves by President Barack Obama to transfer terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba ...

U.S. proposes releasing Guantanamo detainee abroad

2010-04-16T11:05:38Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday proposed sending one of the youngest prisoners held at the controversial U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay back to Afghanistan where his lawyer said he would likely go free.

Afghanistan has req...

US may transfer second Guantanamo detainee for US trial

2010-04-16T11:10:06Z

The US Justice Department signaled in court filings that the Obama administration may transfer a second inmate from Guantanamo Bay to the United States to face trial in federal court.

The detainee,

Biden says Guantanamo will close by January

2010-04-16T11:11:49Z

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp will close by next January, Vice-President Joe Biden said Thursday, adding that decisions on all inmates were likely "well before January."

In an interview with the BBC, he insisted Washin...

Guantanamo report on detainee policy delayed

2010-04-16T11:14:14Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key report ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama as part of his effort to close the internationally condemned Guantanamo prison will be delayed six months, but officials insisted on Monday they were still on track to shut it down by January.

Amid divisions between the administr...

AP sources: Gov't delays terror policy reports

2010-04-16T11:14:16Z

AP sources: Obama administration delays reports on terrorist detention, interrogation

The Obama administration on Monday pushed back its own deadline for devising new anti-terrorism policies.

The decision had been expected, as presidentially appointed task forces have failed to meet a six-month schedule for making policy recommendations on how terror suspects should be interrogated, held in custody or h...

Guantanamo report on detainee policy delayed 6 mths

2010-04-16T11:14:14Z

Amid divisions between lawmakers and...

U.S. report on terrorism detainees delayed 6 months

2010-04-16T11:14:17Z

Amid divisions between lawmakers and...

Official: WH considers terror interrogation unit

2010-04-16T11:16:47Z

Official: Obama administration considers new terror interrogation unit

The Obama administration is considering creating a special unit of professional interrogators to handle key terror suspects, focusing on intelligence-gathering rather than building criminal cases for prosecution, a government official said Saturday.

The recommendation is expected from a presidential task force on interrogation method...

Obama uneasy over indefinite Gitmo detentions

2010-04-16T11:31:50Z

Holding Gitmo terror suspects indefinitely gives Obama 'huge pause'

President Barack Obama said Thursday he's uneasy about his own proposal to indefinitely imprison some of the most dangerous terror suspects being held now at Guantanamo Bay. He called it "one of the biggest challenges of my administration."

The president stopped short of abando...

Czarred And Feathered

2010-10-22T07:49:01Z

...

Guantanamo reforms in defense budget: US lawmaker

2010-06-25T21:43:23Z

The 550.4-billion-dollar defense budget approved by US senators includes a plan to reform the controversial military tribunal process at Guantanamo Bay, the Armed Services Committee chairman said.

"Those commissions... and their procedures have got to be changed to ensure that they are consistent with American principles of justice," said

AG Holder: 50 or more Gitmo trials possible

2010-04-16T11:46:26Z

Attorney General Holder says there could be 50 or more trials of Guantanamo detainees

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday there may be 50 or more trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees as the Obama administration works to shut the detention center by early next year.

Holder discussed the...

One year on, Guantanamo cases stall in courts

2010-04-16T11:49:52Z

One year after the Supreme Court granted prisoners at Guantanamo Bay the right to challenge their detention in US federal courts, few have benefited from the ruling due to political concerns.

It was exactly one year ago Friday that the high court, in a landmark five-to-four majority ruling titled Boumediene v. Bush, granted the writ of habeas corpus to the...

Three Guantanamo detainees sent to Saudi Arabia

2010-04-16T11:50:06Z

The US Justice Department announced Friday that three Saudi nationals had been transferred from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp back to Saudi Arabia, where they will undergo a "rehabilitation program."

Khalid Saad Mohammed, Abdal...

Obama won't rule out releasing detainees in US

2010-04-16T11:50:18Z

White House spokesman won't rule out bringing Guantanamo detainees to US

A White House spokesman says the Obama administration hasn't decided whether or not to release Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States.

Top Obama aides traveled with Uighurs from Guantanamo Bay prison to Bermuda

Senior aides to President Barack Obama accompanied four Chinese Muslims and their lawyers on a flight from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Bermuda.

The four Chinese Muslims, called Uighurs (WEE-gurs), were resettled...

Democrat warns Obama risks 'future Guantanamos'

2010-04-16T11:53:12Z

US President Barack Obama risks creating "future Guantanamos" by continuing his predecessor's policy of indefinitely holding Al-Qaeda suspects, a prominent Democrat warned on Tuesday.

Senator Russ Feingold said he was "troubled" by Obama's policies, warning the practice of holding some suspected terrorists indefinitely ris...

Ex-Guantanamo prisoner pleads not guilty in US court

2010-06-25T21:58:03Z

The first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be transferred for a civilian trial on US soil pleaded not guilty to taking part in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa.

"Not guilty" answered Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, when Federal Court Judge Loretta P...

AP Source: Obama considers some 9/11 guilty pleas

2010-04-16T11:56:11Z

AP Source: Obama administration considering allowing some Guantanamo detainees to plead guilty

Guantanamo detainees facing the death penalty could plead guilty without a full trial under a plan the Obama administration is considering, a senior administration official said Saturday.

The option, one of a number being debated by a Democrats use war funding bill to broaden GI benefits to children of soldiers killed in action

Congressional Democrats are using an approximately $100 billion war funding bill to give recently expanded GI Bill education benefits to the children of military service members who die while on active duty.

The provision, pressed by House S...

US eases up, yet Gitmo inmates say tensions rising

2010-04-16T11:58:53Z

At Guantanamo, detainees say upgrades under Obama do little to ease despair

As visiting journalists walked by, two of the inmates held up sketch pads on which they had scribbled "We need freedom." One of them shouted: "Is Obama communist or democrat?"

The protesters were Uighurs, Chinese Muslims swept up in the Bush administration's Afghanistan w...

US judge presses ahead with Guantanamo case

2010-04-16T11:59:15Z

A US Federal Judge on Tuesday gave the Obama administration ten days to present evidence in the case of Afghan man who is challenging his detention at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

A judge at a Washington district court said the case of Mohammad Jawad versus President Barack Obama was ready to proceed, an...

Yemeni prisoner in Guantanamo found dead: U.S.

2010-04-16T11:59:25Z

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Yemeni captive died in an apparent suicide at the detention center for foreign terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

It was the f...

Cheney on gay marriage: 'Freedom for everyone'

2010-06-25T22:06:52Z

Cheney favors gay marriage but believes states should make the decision, not the federal gov't

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he supports gays being able to marry but believes states, not the federal government, should make the decision.

"I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone," Cheney said in a speech at the N...

Guantanamo court resumes with squabbling lawyers

2010-04-16T12:01:19Z

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The Guantanamo war crimes court wheezed back into session on Monday to settle a squabble over which U.S. military lawyers would represent a young Canadian defendant.

President Barack Obama's administration has asked the Supreme Court to reject a request by Chinese Uighurs held at the Guantanamo Bay prison and cleared of all charges to be released on US soil.

The petitioners "have already obtained relief. They are no longer being detained as enemy combatants," wrot...

CORRECTION WikiLeaks

2010-11-28T23:00:21Z

-- CORRECTS SPELLING OF NEW YORK TIMES IN SECOND SENTENCE -- FILE - In this June 27, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a US Department of Defense official, U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. N...

WikiLeaks

2010-11-28T20:32:01Z

FILE - In this June 27, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a US Department of Defense official, U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. ...

Guantanamo Detainee

2010-11-18T14:13:27Z

Attorney Peter Quijano addresses the media after his client, Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial, was acquitted of all but one charge accusing him of a deadly 1998 plot to bomb two U.S. embassies in MI6 headquarter is seen by River Thames in London, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010. Britain has agreed to pay millions of pounds in settlements to a group of former Janet Hamlin and reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense, Prosecutor Jeffrey Groharing, standing at center, addresses the military jury, seen as blue numbered cards, during his closing arguments on Canadian detainee