The ruling by an US court that stopped the US military from sending Guantanamo bay inmate Mohammed Abdul Rahman to Tunisia since he would be tortured there, has given heart to human right activists who have been voicing their concerns about Guantanamo Bay.
The US facility which houses mostly Al qaeda terrorists, located at the southern tip of Cuba has been controversial since it was set up in 2002. There have been reports of inhuman treatment of inmates and calls have come from all quarters including UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and even traditional US allies like Britain to close it down.
It has made the US Supreme Court step in too. It is presently about to decide whether Guantanamo [also called ‘Gitmo’] inmates can appeal in US civilian courts.
Gitmo has tarnished US’ reputation of being a champion of freedom and liberty. Gitmo has been compared to the erstwhile Soviet labour camps. The Bush administration has been keen to keep the camp going. Last year Bush passed an order that allowed military tribunals to try these prisoners. The Supreme Court steeped in to say that the presidential order was not enough. Republican dominated Congress obliged Bush by passing a law so that Bush had his way.
But the cost-benefit ratio of keeping Gitmo going is turning increasingly negative. Pragmatists in the Bush administration like Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have indicated they would like to see the prison camp shut down.
Though neo-conservative hard-liners around Vice President Dick Cheney would like to keep the camp open. They want to keep the Al Qaeda inmates off limits from US law, since then they would get massive coverage in the media. Also old skeletons in the Bush administration’s cupboard of misdeeds would start tumbling out.
Some experts say closing Gitmo will not solve anything. The detainees may just be shifted to some other detention facility overseas with even less scrutiny than Guantanamo (i.e. ships in international waters or CIA-run ‘black’ prisons).
