Rule of Law would be nice

Thank you Senator Harkin, for your bill introduced yesterday to end the destructive presence of illegal detention at Guantanamo Bay, and the history of torture there. Although the executive branch has maintained it no longer tortures, its pattern of saying whatever will get the war criminals their way, no one believes that.

The statement Senator Harkin made on introduction of his bill pointed out that a minimal number of the detainees in Gitmo were actually taken in battle or have been shown to have ties to any kind of terrorism. Most were actually turned over into our hands by other national entities, for money.

The ACLU today welcomed Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) introduction of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Closure Act of 2007, a bill that would close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The bill cuts off funds for everything except sending charged or sentenced detainees to Fort Leavenworth and transferring the remaining detainees to their home countries or other countries that will not torture or abuse them. The bill would effectively end the practice of indefinite detention without charge or due process for detainees who have been held for as long as five years without charge and without knowing the reason for their detention. It will also provide an incentive for the government to finally charge those detainees the government believes are guilty of crimes against the United States.

The bill requires the president to close the facility within 120 days of enactment. Within that time, detainees will be sent either to the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, or transferred to another country that will not torture or abuse them. The Secretary of Defense can obtain an additional renewal period of 120 days to hold the detainee if the government is preparing charges and has a logistical need for the additional time.

The extreme good sense of this legal measure to ensure our country returns to the rule of law is welcome, and encouraged.