Obama Administration Working On New Plan To Close Guantanamo Prison: Republicans Want Alternate Plans

To fulfill the old promise of closing down the Guantanamo detention centre, the Obama Administration is making all out efforts to rush a new draft for its early closure. The detention centre has been at the eye of controversy for its reported tales of torture on prisoners including methods like water-boarding. Some say Guantanamo excesses are being used as a propaganda tool by many militant groups for recruiting supporters to fight America.

The detention camp was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S, where many foreign nationals belonging to al Qaeda and Taliban underwent grilling for nailing their terror plans. In 2009, president Obama vowed to close the prison within a year of assuming power. Over the years it got delayed. Now there is an added sense of urgency as Mr Obama’s term is coming to an end in another 16 months.

Prisoner Transfer

On July 22, the White House spokesman said it was in the final stage of drafting a plan for closing Guantanamo for foreign terrorism suspects. Spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration is hoping to "short circuit" the resistance from Republicans in Congress who had blocked Mr Obama’s earlier attempts at closing the prison.

They have been blocking transfers of prisoners to America from the facility at Guantanamo Bay, which is a U.S. Naval base now on lease from Cuba. The administration was also under pressure from Pentagon, which opposed prisoner transfer as a potential threat. Meanwhile, Cuba is also stepping up demand for the return of the bay, which was leased from it. Now relations have turned normal and the U.S cannot overlook the demand for long.

Some reports also said White House is miffed with the rising delays in prisoner transfers by the Pentagon. White House national security adviser Susan Rice recently met with Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter and pressed him to make decisions within a month on the proposed transfers.

Senate’s Demands

In the Senate, Republicans have said they are ready to consider the closing of the prison, if it is duly backed by the President and approved by Congress. Accordingly, Senator John McCain, who is heading the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged President Obama to submit a plan for closing Guantanamo. But McCain wanted the closure proposal to be accompanied by a plan to hear the cases of remaining prisoners at a future detention centre.

The number of detainees at “Gitmo” has fallen steeply, after 14 years of its inception. Now there are only 116 prisoners as against 684 in 2003. Among the Guantanamo detainees are some big fishes who include Khalid Sheik Mohammed--the main organiser of the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)