Gitmo North

You may have heard news over the past few weeks of President Obama’s plan to move detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to Thomson, Illinois.  This plan seemingly fulfills Obama’s campaign promise to close the facilities that are an international embarrassment to the US. The off-shore facility that houses detainees allegedly associated with terrorism is rife with civil liberties violations, from indefinite detention without charge to use of torture to complete lack of due process.  As soon as Obama took office, he promised to close the detention center and restore the rule of law in America.

I use the word “seemingly” because this move, as far as we know right now, doesn’t restore the rule of law at all.  Essentially, Obama appears to be moving Guantánamo and all its bad practices to Illinois, effectively creating a Gitmo North.  We hear from folks in our national office that around 100 detainees of two specific types will be transferred to this Supermax prison in the Midwest – detainees scheduled to be tried through the military commissions, a kangaroo court lacking in meaningful due process, and detainees who will continue to be held indefinitely without charge or trial, a practice that is a direct affront to habeas corpus. Basically, Obama has taken the most lawless aspects of Guantánamo and transferred them to Thomson. 

We have yet to see whether these horrible practices will continue at Thomson. Yesterday hearings were held to bring public opinion into the debate about whether the state of Illinois should sell the prison to the federal government, a necessary action before detainees can be moved.  Additionally, the federal government needs time to find funding to purchase the prison, money that probably won’t come through approval from lawmakers. Both of these delays may provide time to address some of these concerns. While the delay provides some time for thoughtful negotiations, it also means more time that the US has the mark of shame Guantánamo brings to our country’s name.  At the ACLU of MAINE, we urge President Obama will move swiftly to close Guantánamo, but not make the mistake of transferring the same horrible practices from Gitmo to another location.