Five Former Secretaries of State: Close Guantanamo

March 27, 2008
Five Former Secretaries of State: Close Guantanamo

ATHENS, Ga. - Five former U.S. secretaries of state on Thursday urged the next presidential administration to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and open a dialogue with Iran.

The former chiefs of American diplomacy, who served in Democratic and Republican administrations, reached a consensus on the two issues at a conference in Athens aimed at giving the next president some bipartisan foreign policy advice. Each of them said shuttering the prison camp in Cuba would bolster America's image abroad.

Worldwide Protest to Close Guantanamo Prison Cam

January 16, 2008
Worldwide Protest to Close Guantanamo Prison Camp

Dressed like Guantanamo prisoners and covered with hoods, the demonstrators demanded that the prison camp, that was established six years ago and symbolizes the US use of torture, be closed once and for all, says a Granma report.

In Spain, protestors delivered a statement in which 170 parliament members urged the closing of the prison. In the United States, demonstrators from different cities converged on Washington to make themselves heard.

Joint Chiefs chairman: Close Guantanamo

January 13, 2008
Joint Chiefs chairman: Close Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The chief of the U.S. military said Sunday he favors closing the prison here as soon as possible because he believes negative publicity worldwide about treatment of terrorist suspects has been "pretty damaging" to the image of the United States.

"I'd like to see it shut down," Adm. Mike Mullen said in an interview with three reporters who toured the detention center with him on his first visit since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last October.

Lawmakers work on shutting down Guantanamo facility

July 9, 2007
Lawmakers work on shutting down Guantanamo facility

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress plan to push measures to stop funding for the Guantanamo Bay detention center and grant new legal rights to detainees when Congress returns this week.

"As long as Guantanamo stays open, it undermines our defining principles as a nation of equal justice under law," said Rep Jim Moran, D-Va., author of a funding proposal that would give the Bush administration six months to close the Cuban facility.

The Bush administration wants to close the 51/2-year-old camp if authorities can keep holding dangerous detainees who "should never be released" or put on trial, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said June 29.

White House Seeks Legislation to Close Guantánamo

July 3, 2007
White House Seeks Legislation to Close Guantánamo

WASHINGTON, July 2 — Seeking a legal path to shutting down the Guantánamo detention facility, senior advisers to President Bush are exploring whether the White House and Congress can agree to legislation that would permit the long-term detention of foreign terrorism suspects on American soil, Pentagon and administration officials say.

The idea of creating a new legal category for some foreign terrorism detainees, which is still in its early stages, faces daunting political, legal and constitutional difficulties. But it is gaining support among some White House and national security officials as the most promising course to allow the president to close the site at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that has generated intense criticism at home and abroad.

Gitmo Conditions Worsening

April 4, 2007
Gitmo Conditions Worsening

Conditions for detainees at the US military jail at Guantanamo Bay are deteriorating, with the majority held in solitry confinement, a report says.

Amnesty International said the often harsh and inhumane conditions at the camp were "pushing people to the edge".

It called for the facility to be closed and for plans for "unfair" military commission trials to be abandoned.

Many of the 385 inmates have been held for five years or more, unable to mount a legal challenge to their detention.

Gates: Congress should close Guantanamo Bay

March 29, 2007
Gates: Congress should close Guantanamo Bay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should explore with the White House ways to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay while not releasing its most dangerous detainees, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

Gates, speaking at the hearing on defense spending, said he favored closing Guantanamo, but that some detainees there "based on their confessions, should never be released."

"Is there a way statutorily to address the concerns about some of these people who really need to be incarcerated forever but that doesn't get them involved in a judicial system where there is the potential of them being released, frankly?" Gates said.