Yesterday, Shenna blogged on the ignominious anniversary of operations at Guantanamo. Obama's refusal to back up his campaign promise to close the detention center not only mars his presidential credibility but continues to deflate the notion that the United States upholds the Rule of Law.
A perfect recent example is embattled Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Lawyers on his behalf are challenging a Swedish extradition request on grounds that Sweden will likely transfer him into U.S. custody. Once in U.S. custody, Assange's lawyer argues he "could be at "real risk" of the death penalty or detention in Guantanamo Bay".
At first blush, it sounds outrageous. However, the truth is that there is nothing to prevent such a scenario. As Susan Ito at the ACLU Blog of Rights points out:
"President Obama is now reportedly considering issuing another Executive Order that would permit the ongoing indefinite detention of Guantanamo prisoners, but would establish a periodic administrative review process for them. As we've pointed out countless times, this is a losing proposition: if the government has enough credible evidence against a detainee to justify holding him indefinitely, it should use that evidence to prosecute him in a federal court."
So in effect, we are back to square one. The only check on executive power is the whim of the President.
