‘Dozens’ of Guantanamo detainee cases have been referred to federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., New York and Virginia. US Attorney General Eric Holder has reportedly met with federal prosecutors from these jurisdictions, each of which has experience handling international terrorism cases.
The debate continues as to what to do with the remaining 229 detainees, with a proposal to create a ‘military-civilian terror prison‘ – either in Kansas or Michigan – now being floated. Such a prison would both house the prisoners and contain a court for their trials.
Legal experts have noted that such a facility will inevitably run into problems of venue, juror selection, judge relocation and victims’ attendance – and that such a plan is ‘totally unprecedented.’
While it is true that such a facility may never have existed in the US, special facilities for terrorist detainees or convicts have been used in other countries.
Windhoek Prison-Courthouse in Namibia‘s capital was built specifically for the ongoing ‘Caprivi Trials’ of a few hundred alleged domestic and foreign terrorists following complications with their being tried in local courts; this included problems brought on by evidence obtained by torture during years of detention.
In Northern Ireland, the infamous Maze prison was originally created to imprison those interned without trial in the early days of the Troubles in 1971. In the years that followed, the status of paramilitary-linked prisoners held at the Maze, on Northern Irish soil, was a main point of legal contention until the Good Friday Agreement ended the conflict 17 years later.
While neither of these examples is completely analagous to the Guantanamo situation, a closer look might be warranted by decision makers. At the very least, both would certainly provide good ‘what not to do’ suggestions for the uncertain path ahead.