Hillary apparently sought closure of Gitmo too.....

This article discusses a letter that Hillary sent to Obama as she was leaving the state department.... asking that Obama make good on his promise to close the place. Read the rest here.

The Tea Project....

Watch the video and find out if the project will be coming to a location near you.

Slahi asks for a review by the military...Updated.

One of the many pathetic things that Obama has done- or in this case hasn't done- is provide the prompt reviews for the men who are not cleared for release. My client is one of those men- as is Slahi- the author of the Guantanamo Diary. Now his attorneys are taking the military's failure to conduct a review to the court. read more here.

Meanwhile the judge that heard Slahi's request to force the military to conduct his review was not happy with the military's foot dragging.... "WASHINGTON—A federal judge chided U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday for pledging to close the Guantanamo detention facility while allowing the process for clearing detainees to drag on for years with no resolution in sight.

A 2011 executive order required a special board to review each detainee’s case within a year, with the aim of releasing those who officials from defense, intelligence and law enforcement agencies concluded don’t pose “a significant threat to the security of the United States.”

To date only 19 detainees have been reviewed, while 107 remain at the prison.

The judge made his remarks during a hearing on Tuesday over a lawsuit filed by one detainee, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, seeking to force the government to schedule his review."

Of course the real question is whether the good judge will do a darned thing about this.... Don't hold your breath.

read more here.

Not everyone was on board with Shaker's release?

It seems some of the military were not on board with Shaker's release. specifically the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Hmmmm. I wonder why he would not want Shaker released. Could it be he is afraid about what Shaker knows? Time will tell but it is good news that he was ignored... and now our republican "leaders" can conduct some year long studies on this issue.
Read more here.

Obama's latest comments....

He claims he will still close Gitmo- but no details yet. I guess he has not had enough time to work out those details (7 years.....)
Read more here.

Same old--- Same old

Obama has apparently decided to delay his plans for closing Guantanamo.
Read more here.

The current Guantanamo numbers....

From our records keep Brian Foster:

"The prison population now stands at 107: 48 are cleared, 49 are awaiting clearance, and 10 are in the military commission system (of those, 7 are in “active” “trial” proceedings while 3 have been “convicted”).

Of the 48 cleared, 39 (81%) are Yemenis and 9 are non-Yemenis.

Of the 49 awaiting clearance, 23 are Yemenis and 26 are non-Yemenis.

Of note: for the first time, Yemenis slated for conditional detention have been transferred out of the prison.  Our client Adil Busayss had been cleared by the Bush Administration and then placed in the conditional-detention category by the Obama Task Force.  And al Rahizi (ISN 45) had been placed in indefinite detention by the Task Force and then approved for transfer by the PRB with the “conditions normally associated with conditional detention.”  As a result, the conditional-detention category has dropped for the first time, and now stands at 31.

The PRB has now approved for transfer 15 of the 18 detainees for whom it has issued decisions.  Four detainees are officially in the PRB process and awaiting their first hearing or decision.  42 detainees are PRB-eligible but have not yet officially begun the process.  (For these purposes, a detainee is “officially in the PRB process” when he shows up on the PRB web page tracking individual detainees’ proceedings.)"

h/o to attorney Brian Foster for keeping up with these numbers...

Vive la France--- continued.

A message from Shaker Aaman.... to those who supported him over the years.

Via Andy Worthington: Shaker is beginning the healing process but sends this message.
Best of luck to you Shaker...

5 Yemeni Detainees transferred to the UAE

Announced this evening by the military:

The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Ali Ahmad Muhammad al-Razihi, Khalid Abd-al-Jabbar Muhammad Uthman al-Qadasi, Adil Said al-Hajj Ubayd al-Busays, Sulayman Awad Bin Uqayl al-Nahdi, and Fahmi Salem Said al-Asani from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of the United Arab Emirates.

That leaves the final count of detainees at Guantanamo at 107.

Vive la France...

ICC looking at abuse of Afghani detainees by "coalition" forces

i.e.-- The united states of America.

As many of you know I was a visiting professional at the ICC a few years back. One of my goals in going there (in addition to helping the section of the court that focuses on victims) was to learn as much as I could about how the court operates in hopes that one day I could go back to help address the war crimes by my country. Looks like my opportunity is getting closer!

Read more here.

And part of his plan is to remain a wimp.....

Obama is expected to sign the latest defense bill despite the fact that it contains a strong prohibition for closing Guantanamo. Read the rest here.

Obama is inching towards a plan....

Read about it here.

The not so dangerous "worst of the worst....."

I have spent quite a bit of time over the years trying to explain to people just how ridiculous the position taken by the military of the men who have not been cleared for release. It is propaganda at its worst- as the military tries to justify the holding of these men who have not been cleared. Al- Jazeera has done a nice piece on some of these men who have been cleared. My client has not had his review as of yet- it is hard to imagine that he would still be held after such a review as the only reason for holding him is because he was in a guesthouse where someone else was staying that the military thought was a bad guy....sigh.
Read more about the worst of the worst here....

News out of DC today....

Seems the president is going to start acting on Guantanamo (after more than six years of complaining he is powerless). Word on the street is that they expect the population of Guantanamo to be under 100 by years end.
read more here....
we shall see.

Really Canada....

I guess the good news is that they did not decide to detain him indefinitely but really Canada- he was invited to speak and he managed to get to Toronto without crossing over US land. Maybe we have to give Trudeau a little time to get his feet securely in the PM job....
Read the whole story here.

"I can’t tell cruelty and kindness apart"

More on Shaker Aamer here....