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....

update on Guantanamo current statistics....

Attached, reflecting the recent news that Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Abdulaziz have been released.

The prison population now stands at 112: 52* are cleared, 50 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 52 cleared, 43 (82.7%) are Yemenis and 9 are non-Yemenis.

Of the 50 awaiting clearance, 24 are Yemenis and 26 are non-Yemenis.

The PRB has now approved for transfer 14 of the 16 detainees for whom it has issued decisions.  Six 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 Brian Foster for keeping track of these numbers..

Shaker is on his way home.....UPDATED

Good news today. It seems Shaker Aamer is back in Britain after being held for 14 years at Guantanamo for no reason... except of course that we could. More here.
Andy Worthington had this to say.
I will have a few words about Shaker once I know he is safely home and with his family- including his 14 year old child who was born after his arrest. Shaker will be meeting that child for the first time today.

I understand that Shaker is with his family now. Shaker has a long healing process as he was treated worse than many of the men currently held because of his role as a leader at the prison.
I quote from this paragraph of the N.Y. Times:

"At Guantánamo, Mr. Aamer became a leader of detainees engaged in a mass hunger strike, negotiating with the prison camp authorities. But after the protest escalated and three detainees apparently committed suicide simultaneously in June 2006, military officials isolated Mr. Aamer from the main inmate population."

It is precisely because of the role that Shaker played- not only because he was fluent in English and therefore could communicate with the prison authorities-but also because of the respect he earned from the detainees and from many of the authorities-- in those early years. But something changed prior to the so-called suicides in 2006 and almost from that point on Shaker was isolated from the other men. Years and years of solitary confinement have very likely taken a substantial toll on this man and this is yet another of the war crimes by my country. I hope that Shaker can move past what my country did to him and I really hope one day he can talk about it--- hopefully in a court of law with those responsible on trial.

I wish only the best for Shaker Aamer.