Foreign Policy Blogs

Obama orders GITMO closure

U.S. President Barack Obama will sign a series of Executive Orders Thursday ordering the closure of the military facility at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba within a year.

At issue is the fate of the detainees held there.  Obama Wednesday in his first full day in office ordered a 120-day halt to military tribunals at the facility. Former U.S. attorney David Igelsias, meanwhile, was hired by the Office of Military Commissions to prosecute the detainees.

Iglesias did not indicate whether the detainees would enter the civilian court system or continue in the military tribunal system, just not at the Guantanamo Bay facility.

 

Author

Daniel Graeber

Daniel Graeber is a writer for United Press International covering Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader Levant. He has published works on international and constitutional law pertaining to US terrorism cases and on child soldiers. His first major work, entitled The United States and Israel: The Implications of Alignment, is featured in the text, Strategic Interests in the Middle East: Opposition or Support for US Foreign Policy. He holds a MA in Diplomacy and International Conflict Management from Norwich University, where his focus was international relations theory, international law, and the role of non-state actors.

Areas of Focus:International law; Middle East; Government and Politics; non-state actors

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