President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed to “once and for all” close the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and transferring the remaining detainees to a facility in the US, though his plan does not specify where.
Obama said that despite significant political hurdles and congressional opposition he is making one last effort to shutter the facility.
I don’t want to pass this problem on the next president, whoever it is. Are we going to let this linger on for another 15 years? Keeping this facility open is contrary to our values. It undermines our standing in the world. It is viewed as a stain on our broader record of upholding the highest standards of rule of law.Barack Obama, President, USA
Obama’s proposal ducks the thorny question of where the new facility would be located and whether Obama could complete the closure before he leaves office.
The plan, which was requested by Congress, makes a financial argument for closing the controversial detention center. US officials say it calls for up to $475 million in construction costs that would ultimately be offset by as much as $180 million per year in operating cost savings.
The proposal is part of Obama’s last effort to make good on his unfulfilled 2008 campaign vow to close Guantanamo and persuade lawmakers to allow the Defense Department to move nearly 60 detainees to the US.
But with few specifics, the proposal may only further antagonize lawmakers who have repeatedly passed legislation banning any effort to move detainees to the US.
Advocates of closing Guantanamo say the prison has long been a recruiting tool for militant groups and that holding extremists suspected of violent acts indefinitely without charges or trial sparks anger and dismay among U.S. allies.
Opponents, however, say changing the detention center’s zip code won’t eliminate that problem.
On that point, Obama’s proposal faced criticism even from those who endorse closing the detention center. His initial campaign pledge was widely viewed as a promise to end the practice of detaining prisoners indefinitely without charge, not to bring that practice to the US, said Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International USA’s Security and Human Rights Program.
There are currently 91 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Of those, 35 are expected to be transferred out by this summer.
At its peak in 2003, Guantanamo held nearly 680 detainees, and there were about 245 when Obama took office.
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