Holder: GITMO On Track To Close, Detainees Could Transfer To Illinois

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that a new facility must be opened in order to hold detainees currently occupying the Guantánamo Bay detention facility before the Obama administration can shut it down.

“It is still the intention of this administration to close the facility at Guantánamo,” Holder said. “It serves as a recruiting tool for those who have sworn to harm this nation [and] we will close GITMO as quickly as we can, as soon as we can.”

Holder said that the Department of Justice is continuing to eye a $145 million maximum security prison that remains unopened in Thomson, Illinois as a possible replacement. The prospective site currently belongs to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The Illinois maximum security facility will hold the 240 detainees currently held in Cuba, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants in the 9/11 terror trial if found guilty.

Holder touched upon Mohammed's trial, which was initially proposed to be held in a New York civilian court but is now under consideration again after New York officials raised questions concerning security issues.

“The administration is in the process of reviewing the decision as to where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants should actually be tried,” Holder said. “New York is not off the table, though we have to take into consideration the concerns that have been raised by officials and the community.”

Holder told the committee that he expects a decision regarding the trial to be made in the coming weeks.

“As I’ve said from the outset, this is a close call. It should be clear to everyone by now that there are many legal, national security and practical factors to be considered here. As a consequence, there are many perspectives on what the most appropriate and effective forum is.”

House GOP’er Wants To Keep Gitmo Open

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, decried the Obama administration’s plan to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, describing the decision as reckless.

“[President Barack Obama] hadn’t even had time to review the situation and classified information,” Hoekstra said during a press conference Friday. “He fired before he aimed.”

Hoekstra reiterated his opposition to moving the facility’s detainees into U.S. prisons, especially those in the Congressman’s state.

“Some of my colleagues have said this would be an economic stimulus package for Michigan. It is a really bad idea. I don’t care how cold it gets in the upper peninsula during the Winter.”

The Ranking Member also warned against trying Guantanamo detainees in the U.S. court system, arguing that it would be absurd to expect U.S. soldiers to imitate police by collecting evidence to charge combatants with.

Durbin: Try Terrorists Through Federal Court, Not Military Commission

By Sam Wechsler - Talk Radio News Service

Suspected terrorists must be prosecuted through federal civilian courts and not military commissions, said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill) at a Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) argued that unforseen national security risks arise when terrorists are tried in federal civilian courts. He explained how during the prosecution of Ramsey Yusef, who was involved in plotting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a seemingly innocent piece of testimony concerning the delivery of a cell phone battery allowed at-large terrorists to discover that a means of communication had been compromised.

According to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the only reason that the security risk occurred during Yusef’s trial was because prosecutors failed to employ the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). Durbin says the government prosectors bypassed the use of CIPA so as to not release the names of several unindicted co-conspirators. Durbin added that he believes the government has learned from its mistakes.

“To argue that American courts cannot prosecute terrorists? Look at the facts. We’ve not only done it in the past, we’re doing it now,” said Durbin. He explained that 145 terrorists were convicted and sentenced in federal courts from September 11, 2001 through the end of 2007. Jeh C. Johnson, General Counsel for the Department of Defense, said that only three terrorists have been convicted through military commissions since 9/11.

Durbin also made his case for closing down the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying that no prisoner has ever escaped from a federal super maximum security facility.

“If we don’t bring suspected terrorists to this country to be prosecuted and detained, it’s almost impossible to close Guantanamo,” he said.

Congressmen Resolve To Support Chinese Uighurs

By Sam Wechsler - Talk Radio News Service

On Friday, Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) announced a resolution to condemn China's violent repression of the recent Uighur protests. The resolution asks Congress to go on record in support of the Uighur people and criticizes the U.S. government for not speaking out against the Chinese oppression of the Uighur people.

State-run media in China claims that as a result of clashes with Chinese law enforcement officers in recent weeks, the Uighur death toll is 156. The Uighurs estimate the actual count is approximately 500, with thousands more imprisoned.

The Chinese place blame of their violence against the Uighurs on Rebiya Kadeer, President of the World Uighur Congress, who was present at the news conference. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three separate occasions.

In a letter written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Delahunt and Rep. Rohrabacher stated, “[Kadeer] has never encouraged nor supported violence in the past and instead has sought a peaceful resolution to her people’s troubles in China...[We] find it appalling that the Chinese government is attempting to ascribe its own brutal acts as the responsibility of this courageous woman who fully embraces democracy and non-violence.”

During Friday's news conference, Rep. Delahunt was particularly enraged by the fact that the U.S. Department of Defense would not allow members of the House Human Rights and Oversight Subcommittee to interview the Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Rather, the U.S. allowed Chinese officials to interrogate the Uighur detainees.

According to Susan Baker Manning, a defense attorney for the Uighur detainees, the Uighurs stated that the Chinese interrogation was their “lowest point” at Guantanamo Ba

Rep. Schiff Introduces New Way To Try Terrorists

By Aaron Richardson

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Ca) testified Wednesday at a hearing surrounding the legal issues of the military commissions system, stating that there is a better way to prosecute the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

“Some call for the creation of a National Security Court to try the detainees and others have advocated all the detainees go into federal criminal courts. Earlier this year I introduced the HR 1315 “The Terrorist Detainees Procedures Act of 2009” The legislation would make use of the military courts-martial and would prosecute the detainees as unlawful combatants.” said Schiff.

Schiff also testified how he felt about the way the current system that is in place.

“I believe the commissions system has proved so flawed and the due process proved inadequate and discredited that in the case of the detainees at Guantanamo should be completely dropped," Schiff said.

According to a statement released by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx) the issue is not the way in which the detainees are being prosecuted, but the rights they may receive as possible terrorists.

“Now President Obama wants to give known terrorists the constitutional rights of citizens on trial in the U.S. Once terrorists are given additional rights, such as the right to remain silent, of course they do just that. The result is no interrogations, no information and possibly more attacks.”