[jolepp]

...
Open for 10 years on Wednesday, the prison seems more established than ever. The deadline set by President Barack Obama to close Guantanamo came and went two years ago. No detainee has left in a year because of restrictions on transfers, and indefinite military detention is now enshrined in U.S. law.
...
Today, Guantanamo holds 171 prisoners and it's an odd mix. Thirty-six await trial on war crimes charges, including the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. There are 46 in indefinite detention as men the U.S. considers dangerous but who cannot be charged for lack of evidence or other reasons.
...

Guantanamo prison now 10 years old - World - CBC News

[Ratmagiclady]

Actually, it's older than that: the thing is, before BUsh went out of office, *he* released all but the most dangerous guys and left no other place to put em.

[David-C]

Happy Birthday Guantanamo.

[jolepp]

Actually, it's older than that: the thing is, before BUsh went out of office, *he* released all but the most dangerous guys and left no other place to put em.

The US base there, of course, is older (and a peculiar thing in itself) (?).

In general, one has to wonder how it is possible to be as clever as to come up with the legal techicality of 'not US soil' to get around the US constitution but at the same time to miss the inevitable consequences of the arrangement.

[Wheatfield]

The US base there, of course, is older (and a peculiar thing in itself) (?).

In general, one has to wonder how it is possible to be as clever as to come up with the legal techicality of 'not US soil' to get around the US constitution but at the same time to miss the inevitable consequences of the arrangement.

Self serving politics at it's finest.

[Jasvox]

There isn't a country in the world which will take the prisoners. No US States will house the prisoners. Turning them out creates potential problems to say the least, huge disasters worse case scenario.

What do you reckon is to be done with them?

Jason

[Wheatfield]

There isn't a country in the world which will take the prisoners. No US States will house the prisoners. Turning them out creates potential problems to say the least, huge disasters worse case scenario.

What do you reckon is to be done with them?

Jason

The USA is imprisoning close to 4 dozen people there who are, apparently, guilty of nothing. Perhaps if they can't be repatriated to their own countries, they should be given American citizenship and released into the general American population. Imprisoning people indefinitely without charging them with anything is what places like Iran or Syria does.

[Jasvox]

Allegedly guilty of nothing or has the US Government admitted to imprisoning 4 dozen people who are guilty of nothing? Seems like an odd situation to hold them for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Jason

[Workingdog]

How about we send them up to the Great White North?

[Parallax]

has the US Government admitted to imprisoning 4 dozen people who are guilty of nothing?

There is no way they can not admit it. They admit they are there and as there has been no trial they are not guilty. At least that's the way our system used to work.
People are held in pre trial confinement all the time. The difference is that the "pre" and "trial" parts mean that they have been charged with a crime and there is an intent to have a trial due to having sufficient evidence to make a conviction a reasonable possibility.
"There are 46 in indefinite detention as men the U.S. considers dangerous but who cannot be charged for lack of evidence or other reasons." How in the hell do you justify detaining people indefinitely on a hunch?

[jolepp]

There isn't a country in the world which will take the prisoners. No US States will house the prisoners. Turning them out creates potential problems to say the least, huge disasters worse case scenario.

What do you reckon is to be done with them?

Jason

How about trying them in the regular court system? (for a start)

From Terrorist Trial Report Card: September 11, 2001 - September 11, 2011

The court system has resolved 431 of the 578 cases. Approximately 87% of all resolved
cases have resulted in a conviction. Of 376 convicted, 349 jihadist defendants have received
sentences.

Jihadist Crimes Since 9/11

Defendants charged: 310
Resolved Cases: 204
Convictions: 177
Acquittals: 8
Mistrials: 1
Charges Dismissed: 13
Guilty Verdicts Vacated: 5
Average Sentence: 14 years
Conviction Rate: 87%

(page 9, 1. Results of Prosecutions)

The group of defendants charged with jihadist crimes is highly diverse. While 42% are U.S. citizens, the rest are citizens of more than 45 other countries.

(page 24, 7. Citizenship of Defendants)

edit:

Also, consider

...
The criminal justice system, meanwhile, has absorbed the surge of terrorism cases since 2001 without calamity, and without the international criticism that Guantánamo has attracted for holding prisoners without trial. A decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, an examination of how the prisons have handled the challenge of extremist violence reveals some striking facts:

Big numbers. Today, 171 prisoners remain at Guantánamo. As of Oct. 1, the federal Bureau of Prisons reported that it was holding 362 people convicted in terrorism-related cases, 269 with what the bureau calls a connection to international terrorism — up from just 50 in 2000. An additional 93 inmates have a connection to domestic terrorism.
...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/us/beyond-guantanamo-bay-a-web-of-federal-prisons.html

[normhead]

You have the same thing, all over the world in institutions for the criminally insane, many who have served a longer time incarcerated than they would have for the crime they committed... but until some institutional psychiatrist is willing to stick his neck out and say they are unlikely to re-offend, they stay locked up. As a society we are not very tolerant of people who recommend the release of people known to be dangerous if they re-offend. As bureaucrat the safe thing to do is lock them up and throw away the key. The last thing you want to do is release someone who might re-offend.

[Jasvox]

How about we send them up to the Great White North?

Agrees.

Jason

[Jasvox]

"There are 46 in indefinite detention as men the U.S. considers dangerous but who cannot be charged for lack of evidence or other reasons."[/I] How in the hell do you justify detaining people indefinitely on a hunch?

Agrees.

Jason

[Jasvox]

How about trying them in the regular court system? (for a start)

Agrees.

Jason