Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep the Guant\u00e1namo Bay prison camp open, reversing the policy of the Obama administration.<\/p>\n
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Trump said he had directed the defence secretary, James Mattis, \u201cto reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities at Guant\u00e1namo Bay\u201d. He added that he expected that \u201cin many cases\u201d captured terrorists would be sent to the camp.<\/p>\n
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\nThe Trump executive order instructs Mattis, in consultation with the secretary of state and other officials, to deliver a new policy on battlefield detentions, \u201cincluding policies governing transfer of individuals to US Naval Station Guant\u00e1namo Bay\u201d within 90 days.<\/p>\n
It is the latest in a long series of policies pursued by Barack Obama that Trump has reversed. Obama signed an order calling for Guant\u00e1namo Bay to be closed on his second day in office in 2009, but he was never able carry out that policy to its conclusion.<\/p>\n
Obama argued that maintenance of an detention facility beyond the reach of US law undermined American global leadership on human rights. In his speech on Tuesday night however, Trump said that the move to close Guant\u00e1namo reflected softness in the fight against terrorism. And he suggested detention was second best to killing terrorists.<\/p>\n
\u201cTerrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWhen possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear: Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIn the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield \u2013 including the Isis leader, al-Baghdadi, who we captured but who we had who we release.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obama\u2019s adversaries had claimed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been released from an Iraqi prison facility called Camp Bucca in 2009. However, the insurgent who went on to lead the Islamic State, was released by a military review board in 2004.<\/p>\n
Trump did not announce he was about to order the transfer of new prisoners to Guant\u00e1namo Bay, and a leaked state department cable to embassies abroad said there were no immediate plans for transfer to Guant\u00e1namo. But the president left that option open in his speech.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep the Guant\u00e1namo Bay prison camp open, reversing the policy of the Obama administration. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Trump said he had directed the defence secretary, James Mattis, \u201cto reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":396785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[264,8555,109],"yoast_head":"\n