Alia Allana on the future of Guantanamo

•President Obama had said Guantanamo was one of his top priorities during his campaign. What has he done since he assumed office?

One of the first actions taken by Obama was to issue a 120-day moratorium on all trials in Guantanamo. Further, he has signed an executive order, which eventually would result in the closure of the detention camp. He has specified a 12 month period over which policies would be drawn up leading to the shutdown.

•There are some who are sceptical about how manageable this will be. Why?

Shutting down Gitmo is more complicated than a mere evacuation of prisoners. First there is the legal question. Under the law mandated by Bush, the prisoners held at Gitmo were “enemy combatants” in the ‘war on terror.’ This allowed for legal loopholes to be skipped and detention period to remain unspecified. But if the facility is shut down, under what legal basis will the prisoners be held? Obama’s decision to shut down Gitmo is a move away from the ‘war on terror’ formulation: he would therefore need to draw up new rules and procedures, which would specify how prisoners would be held, and for how long.

•There is talk of a Preventive Detention Law. What is this?

A Preventive Detention Law would need to be ratified by Congress. Simply put, this law would allow the US to hold prisoners prior to the commission of a crime, under the guise of acts against the US. However, there has been massive uproar against such a Bill, prior to it even reaching Congress. Further, there are those who believe that such an act could be equated to Guantanamo, as it would continue with the same pretence of an assumed crime. There are human rights groups, who have argued that this bill would simply move Guantanamo geographically.

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