Trump's response - Guantánamo detention not indefinite, just indeterminate

The Trump administration has responded to our legal challenge by claiming that detention at Guantánamo is not indefinite, it’s just indeterminate. We argued that continued detention in America’s illegal prison is unconstitutional. The court demand that Trump finally reveal his plans. Trump’s response to the most significant legal challenge to Guantanamo in over a decade was empty and illogical. Trump’s lawyers said that Guantánamo is not arbitrary because the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process gives detainees the chance to be cleared for release. This is despite the fact no detainees have been cleared since President Trump took office in January 2017. At the same time, the administration argues that detainees previously cleared for release by six government agencies can continue to be detained without charge. 5 men have been cleared, yet remain illegally detained in the infamous prison, The distinction between ‘indefinite’ and ‘indeterminate’ makes little difference to the men who continue to be illegally detained without charge 16 years after Guantanamo opened. It makes no difference to Abdul Latif Nasser and Tocwfiq Bihani, who were both cleared for release and narrowly missed out on freedom before Trump took office. Trump has made clear what we have all known for some time: Guantanamo is a legal black hole. It is an illegal, ineffective and unjust stain on America’s conscience.

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Free man in a cage Guantanamo Bay was supposed to be the end of the line for the ‘worst of the worst’. But Abdul Latif is there because of something much more mundane. Read more…