In yet another failure to honor its promises to civil libertarians, the Obama Administration has failed to honor its own deadline for the submission of a report on its policy for the detention of terror suspects. The report was expected to give details on Obama’s promise to shutdown the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Obama has reportedly decided to give his Administration another six months.
The delay occurs at a time when the Administration has been adopting, and in some cases expanding, Bush terror policies. This includes the statement of Administration officials that, even if a detainee is acquitted in court, President Obama retained the right to hold the detainee indefinitely under his own authority.
Obama officials insist that they are making progress but simply need more time. However, when combined with the failure to order an investigation into the torture program (without outcome determinative limitations), the delay is seen as additional evidence of the reluctance of the Obama Administration to follow its clear legal obligations in this area. These detainees should not have been placed in a make-shift legal system in the first place. They should be transferred to our legal system and charged with any crimes alleged by the Administration. Instead, the Administration continues the Bush approach of rigging the system — creating special rules for detainees who would likely prevail in a fair trial.
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