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Senate OKs move of Gitmo prisoners to US for trial
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-21 10:49
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama won a modest victory Tuesday in his continuing effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and allowing the government to continue to transfer detainees to the United States for prosecution. The plan to permit terror suspects held at the facility to be shipped to US soil to face trial passed the US Senate by a 79-19 vote as part of a larger $44.1 billion budget bill for the Homeland Security Department.
In January, Obama ordered the facility closed within a year, but the administration has yet to deliver a plan and the effort has hit several roadblocks. Among the main problems was unease among Obama's Democratic allies in Congress who have refused to approve money for the effort. The plan adopted Tuesday requires the administration to develop a plan before any further transfers. It also requires 15 days' notice before a transfer can occur and a certification that the prisoner does not represent a security risk. The Senate debate over Guantanamo prisoners was relatively sedate. Last week, House Democratic leaders had to press to defeat a Republican effort to block transfer of any of the Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States, even to face trial. "Prosecuting these individuals in our US courts simply will not work, and there is too much at stake to grant the unprecedented benefit of our legal system's complex procedural safeguards to foreign nationals who were captured outside the United States during a time of war," said Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. "Guantanamo must be closed because it's become a recruiting tool for al-Qaida and other terrorists," countered the second-ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin. The homeland security measure is one of several bills addressing the Guantanamo issue. A Senate-passed defense spending measure would block all transfers while a separate defense policy measure also would permit transfers for trial. |
