US President Barack Obama should move swiftly to fulfill newly repeated promises to end indefinite detention without trial at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
More prisoners have joined a hunger strike at the US-run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, bringing the reported total to 93 out of 166 held at the facility.
A bipartisan study finding “indisputable” evidence of torture for which the highest United States officials bear responsibility should spur the US government to thoroughly investigate detainee abuse since September 11, 2001, and provide redress to victims.
The Obama administration’s decision to try an alleged al Qaeda figure in federal court rather than before a military commission at Guantanamo best serves the interests of justice. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who had been an al Qaeda spokesman, was indicted on a criminal charge of conspiracy to kill United States citizens. He appeared in US District Court in Manhattan on March 8, 2013, and pleaded not guilty.
The enormous prison population in the United States partly reflects harsh sentencing practices contrary to international law, Human Rights Watch said in the US chapter of its World Report 2013.
The movie Zero Dark Thirty, which depicts the hunt for Osama bin Laden, wrongly suggests that torture was an ugly but useful tactic in the fight against terrorism.
US President Barack Obama’s refusal to veto a defense spending bill restricting detainee transfers from Guantanamo undercuts his pledge to close the prison. Obama signed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), even though his advisers had said they would recommend a veto if it contained detainee transfer restrictions.