Constitutional Law

Obama Calls For Halt To Military Proceedings At Guantanamo

The Obama administration has ordered military prosecutors in Guantanamo Bay to seek suspension of the military commissions there, The Washington Post reports. The order states that the 120-day suspension is needed so the “newly inaugurated president and his administration [can] review the military commissions process, generally, and the cases currently pending before the military commissions, specifically.” According to The Post, a case involving a Canadian accused of killing a U.S. solider in Afghanistan was put on hold following the Obama order. Jamil Dakwar, director of the human rights program at the ACLU, told the newspaper that the order was a “good step in the right direction,” but that it “leaves open the option of this discredited system remaining in existence. The Human Rights First International Legal Director, in a guest blog post for ACS, urged the new administration to shutter the prison at Guantanamo Bay and halt the commissions. The blog post is available here.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on January 21, 2009 (boomark / email).