Transfer woes mire prison closing
Guantanamo deadline looms
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration took an important step toward closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when it announced plans last week to prosecute the accused Sept. 11 conspirators in the United States. But the move also underscored the near certainty that President Obama will miss a his January deadline to shut it.
The administration has lined up local support for the federal government to take over Thomson Correctional Center, an underused maximum-security prison 150 miles west of Chicago, which would be used to house some Guantanamo detainees.
The plan has sparked public safety concerns, but Governor Pat Quinn and US Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois have endorsed it. Quinn said it will create about 3,000 jobs, both at the prison and in nearby communities in an area where unemployment has topped 10 percent.
Quinn said Illinois is being considered along with at least two other cities in Colorado and Montana. Federal officials are expected to inspect the Chicago prison today.
Even with a willing host community, however, the obstacles are daunting. Current law forbids the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo to the United States. Congressional lawmakers have said they will not lift that ban until the administration presents them with a site.
Five detainees - including self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be tried in federal court in New York. But the plans leave unsettled the fate of more than 200 remaining detainees, who represent the biggest obstacle to closing the prison.
Five of those men, US Attorney General Eric H. Holder said Friday, will be prosecuted by military tribunals. And, military officials said, dozens of the remaining detainees have been approved for transfer to other countries.
But finding secure facilities to hold them in places where they won’t be tortured has proved difficult. Just as big a problem will be detainees who officials say cannot be released or transferred because they are potentially dangerous and cannot be prosecuted using available evidence.
The Obama administration has concluded it will have to hold some detainees long-term without trial. The question is where to hold them if not at Guantanamo.
Republicans are rallying support to short-circuit plans for trials for the accused Sept. 11 plotters. If opposition to plans to move detainees to Illinois also materializes, Republicans probably will oppose any change in the law on transferring detainees.
Conservatives noted that measures barring the transfer of prisoners to the United States have won support from large numbers of Democrats and Republicans - and could do so again.
Holder acknowledged Friday that it would be difficult to close Guantanamo by Jan. 22.
In the meantime, several detainees are appealing their detentions in civilian courts.
