Guantanamo group of 47 'should be held indefinitely'

[toomuchtime_]

A task force on the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay has advised that 47 inmates should be held indefinitely without trial, officials say.

It is thought to be the first time that officials have given a figure for those who might be held without charge.

Some 35 prisoners have been recommended for prosecution through trials or military commissions.

The news came as the deadline US President Barack Obama had set himself for closing the prison camp passed.

The task force, led by the US justice department, recommended that while 35 people could be prosecuted, 110 could be released either now or at a later date, unnamed officials said.

The other nearly 50 detainees are considered too dangerous to release, but cannot be tried because the evidence against them is too flimsy or was extracted from them by coercion, so would not hold up in court.

'Dismay'

Congress has laid down that only those to be tried can be moved to US soil, so the question of what to do with those to be detained indefinitely without trial has yet to be resolved.

The BBC's Adam Brookes says the outcome will dismay civil liberties groups, and will also dismay many of Mr Obama's supporters who hoped the president would end the practice of detention without trial.

BBC News - Guantanamo group of 47 'should be held indefinitely'

 

[Annie]

I'm waiting to see if the Justice Department doesn't change its mind about the civilian trials. Seems 'change' is in the air once again...