Issues Under Fire: Closing Gitmo Without Addressing Indefinite Detention Seems Pointless

Issues Under Fire: Closing Gitmo Without Addressing Indefinite Detention Seems Pointless

 As Barack Obama makes a desperate effort to clear his desk of campaign promises during the last stages of his presidency, the Guantanamo Bay issue will plague his legacy even if Gitmo's doors were miraculously closed today. The issue is not Guantanamo Bay, the issue is indefinite detention. As long as the United States retains the authority to arrest and hold a person without charge or trial forever, where that person is being held is irrelevant.  

As long as the United States retains the authority to capture and transfer a person to a foreign detention facility to be held indefinitely, closing Guantanamo Bay fails to address the core issue. Although President Obama maintains the image of a stickler for civil and human rights, signing off on legislation that permits the United States to engage in activities roundly outlawed by the international community is disturbing to say the least. 

In fact, maintaining the authority to detain people indefinitely in foreign countries, while trying to reform America's draconian criminal justice system is the epitome of inconsistency. Letting some people out of prison early in America for crimes they were charged, tried and convicted of, while keeping other people locked up for life without ever seeing the inside of court room in remote places on the planet, could seem humorous were it not so inhumane. 

Defenders of indefinite detention will argue the numbers of people detained indefinitely are few because the policy only pertains to individuals accused of certain terror related crimes. Defenders of the policy will also argue American values and principles are preserved because this activity is not allowed on American soil. While that may be true, there is no way to verify the actual count or explains how one would defend one's self from false accusations. Once accused and detained, one could be locked up for as long as the war on terror last. In today's world, that could be multiple lifetimes. 

Imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial in other parts of the world leaves too much to the imagination. The curious will always want to know what's being done to people while they're held in legal limbo? What does living a life in legal limbo do to a person's mind over time? Does indefinite detention constitute cruel and unusual punishment? Is indefinite detention tantamount to torture? Who guards the detainees and guarantees their safety and treatment? Are the guards professionally trained for that special kind of duty? After the Abu Ghraib issue in Iraq, these are all legitimate questions.

Bottom line: Indefinite detentions rekindles thoughts of water-boarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation and other acts of inhumanity. Closing Guantanamo Bay without abolishing indefinite detentions will only keep the tales of America's torturous past alive and circulating as recruitment tools for future jihadist types.  Podcast below!