GUANTANAMO/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: “President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to keep open the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, after pledging during the campaign to ‘load it up with some bad dudes.’…
Trump’s order revokes one issued by President Obama in his first days in office that called for the facility to close, which had been a key Obama campaign promise.
Although many prisoners were released from Guantanamo under Obama, he was unable to make good on the pledge to close it altogether, due to concerns over the fate of some prisoners deemed too risky for either being freed or moved to U.S. soil.
No new prisoners have come to Guantanamo in more than a decade. When Obama left office, eight years after signing the closing order, there were still 41 inmates. They remain, including five who had been cleared for release by federal agencies when Trump took office…
While the new directive does nothing to immediately resolve the legal quandary dating to the administration of President George W. Bush, it does require the secretary of defense to recommend within 90 days a method for determining the fate of individuals captured by the U.S. forces.
Lee Wolosky, who was Obama’s special envoy at the State Department for closing Guantanamo, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that in a practical sense, not much will change with the new order.”
-Scott Neuman, “Trump Signs Order To Keep Prison At Guantanamo Bay Open,” NPR, Jan. 31, 2018 01:10am