By Christi Parsons and Julian E. Barnes|May 22, 2009
Reporting from Washington — President Obama this morning pledged to forge ahead with plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, dealing with detainees through a range of options including release, imprisonment at high-security American prisons, trials in federal courts and military commissions -- and, for some, prolonged and even indefinite detention.
Obama said his administration is in the process of devising "clear, defensible and lawful standards" for inmates who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes but who still pose a security threat to the country.
"We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country," Obama said. "But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. . . . I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people."
Speaking at the National Archives -- which houses the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence -- Obama argued that the nation should "enlist the power of our most fundamental values" in the effort to keep itself safe.
The president's address comes amid signs of growing resistance to his Guantanamo closure plan, highlighted Wednesday when the Senate voted to block funding for the shutdown.
The rule of law demands the release of 21 of the people currently held at the prison, Obama said, citing detainees whom "the courts have found that there is no legitimate reason" to hold. He said his administration has found that 50 others can be safely moved to other countries and that the White House is talking with a number of other nations about other potential transfers.
Some detainees can go to high-security facilities on American soil, he said. Trials will take place in federal court for those charged with breaking criminal laws and in military commissions for those accused of violating the "laws of war," he said.
But the president also opened the door to the possibility that some cases may call for indefinite detention.
Human-rights advocates believe the government should treat accused terrorists like suspected criminals, not as combatants captured on a battlefield, and believe proposals to hold prisoners without trial are a mistake. Elisa Massimino, chief executive of Human Rights First, said that Obama's proposal to create a system of indefinite detention undermined his message that American values are a national security asset.
