Guantanamo, Is it legal, and should it be kept open? Options

[*mipadi*]

Republican senators called on Wednesday for the rights of foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay prison to be legally defined even as the Bush administration said the inmates could be jailed there "in perpetuity."

The prison, currently holding roughly 520 inmates, opened on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2002 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Many of the detainees have been held for more than three years, and only four have been charged.

At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Republican Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said Congress should help to define the legal rights of the inmates at the prison, which the panel's top Democrat called "an international embarrassment."

Delaware Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden asked Deputy Associate Attorney General J. Michael Wiggins whether the Justice Department had "defined when there is the end of conflict."

"No, sir," Wiggins responded.

"If there is no definition as to when the conflict ends, that means forever, forever, forever these folks get held at Guantanamo Bay," Biden said.

"It's our position that, legally, they can be held in perpetuity," Wiggins said.

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Do you feel that the United States is legally and/or morally justified in holding foreign nationals captured on suspicion of being terrorists indefinitely? Should these men be given a fair trial first? Should they be turned over to their home countries for trial, instead of being held by the US--and if not, should they be given the rights of a normal prisoner of war? Can the US hold these prisoners indefinitely? Are the policies regarding Guantanamo concurrent with US values, in terms of freedom, liberty, and justice?

[_suzie_]

these men have been arrested and been imprisoned WITHOUT TRIAL. this is the same as INTERNMENT, and it goes against the geneva convention, UN declaration of human rights, the american constitution and practically any other moral statute ever written for the benefit of the equality of every human being.

i'm personally disgusted - they AT LEAST should be put under a fair trial, and the bush administration should be asked why the f**k they arrested these men and not Usama bin Laden, who they've forgotten about all of a sudden.

also, the american people should question the very origins and causes of this supposed ''war on terror''. ur government is shittin on u, and my heart breaks, cuz there are decent american people being portrayed as a disgusting nation , through the bush administration.


sorry but i feel strongly about this sorta thing...

[TaintedDesires]

I think they should free everyone. Like Suzie said, they're being held in prison without being charged and without a fair and quick trial. The US bill of rights states that one has to be charged and one is entitled to a fair and speedy trial. Bush is arguing that the US constitution doesn't apply their because it's not in the US but it's on a US military ground. It also goes against the geneva convention. MOst people don't even know why their being held their and I think this is just wrong.