Pres Obama has issued an executive order that will "create a formal system of indefinite detention" at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It would appear that the admin tried to open a facility in the US to conduct trials, but a bipartisan congress blocked him. Some of the detainees could be held for life w/o a trial. There are presently 48 of the remaining 172 detainees that the Obama order pretains to. It is noted that "the group could not be prosecuted in military commissions or in federal court because evidentiary problems would hamper a trial". The admin believes the "rules of war" allow for this treatment and some US courts have agreed; however they say "some detainees should be released for a lack of evidence against them". There is, what appears to be, a legal procedure for the trials that involves written review of their case, a gov't rep appointed to act as advocate, right to appear before a board, call witnessess and into evidence. One attorney who represented past detainees says the system is no different than the one Bush II created. The admin has decided "...not to release any Yemenis, even those cleared for repatriation". GOP congressman, Peter King, says that the Obama program is a "vindication" of the Bush II program. It seems the first to be tried is Al-Nashiri, for the Cole bombing, even thou an official of the military commission "...had dismissed the charges against him". He will be difficult to try due to the fact that he was waterboarded, tortured, and threatened with death by a power drill.
(Source: "Obama restarts Guantanamo trials" by staff and wire reports in The Virginian Pilot on 3/8/11)
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