Written January 23, 2009

Like everyone who has been condemning Guantanamo Bay in their own way along with every single human rights organization out there, I was ecstatic when I found out that President Obama released an order on closing it down. There is no need to go into details about that, the record is quite extensive in proving that Guantanamo is a torture chamber where the constitutional rights (whether it is the U.S. or the Universal Charter of Human Rights) are regularly trampled on. This prison is an absolute embarrassment and that has been clear for a long time. It was just that there was an absolute tool in the White House for the past eight years who paid no attention to it.

We should also make sure that we are not delusional about why President Obama has chosen to take this policy direction. He did not decide to close Guantanamo out of the goodness of his heart. As the document alluded to, the significant amount of pressure from activists from all walks of life and profession is the result of this. This is a significant win for all the tireless work that was put into this issue and people should continue in their struggle. This is a significant win, not for Obama, but for activists. While the level of George W. Bush is not exactly what should be aimed for, we finally have a president that responds better to public pressure. To exert that pressure, it takes tireless work on the grassroots level. It has been an effective formula in the past and it will continue to be so.

I read through the short document and while the pronounced goals are extremely promising (I really do hope that he follow through with them), there are things that people should be extremely concerned about. Not because it is some type of gut feeling that I get but based on REAL evidence and past precedence. In particular, the following statement:

“If any individuals covered by this order remain in detention at Guantánamo at the time of closure of those detention facilities, they shall be returned to their home country, released, transferred to a third country, or transferred to another United States detention facility in a manner consistent with law and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”

The reason why I am extremely concerned about the concept of “prisoner transfer” in this Executive Order to shut down Guantanamo is because the United States has a terrible record when it comes to: transferring prisoners to "third countries", that have abysmal human rights records, and end up getting tortured there. To take a well-known example that the Canadian people should be concerned about as well is the case Mahar Arar who was sent to Syria, a country that has a terrible human rights record, and was tortured. What he went through is the courtesy of the United States. Both Canada and the U.S. knew exactly what they were doing. It takes some serious education and self-inflicted blindness to not know about Syria because information is so readily available.

Lastly, as it relates to bringing back the detainees to face the U.S. justice system, that is not a positive thing either as that system in itself faces many institutional problems. One only needs to look at the case of Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian professor in the United States accused of terrorism, to know what I am talking about. All the major charges against him came back with a verdict of "Not guilty" (he should have been out of prison EASILY) but somehow the prosecution got around it and has managed to still keep him in prison.

Giving Obama the benefit of the doubt that he is completely sincere in that he completely understands the uproar of all human rights organizations, legal international bodies and activists, he does not control every aspect of U.S. policy. Sometimes it can be something as simple as getting bogged down in the process or mere neglect. Nevertheless, in light of past examples, it is usually done with the full knowledge that such transfers will result in the torture of the detainees.

I know we are all eager to jump up and down and find something to cheer Obama on for, but quite frankly, this is not it. It is not a matter of bending over backward just yet. It is a matter of not bending over backward at all when we know full well that Obama is a politician only responding to the tireless work of the people and groups he should always listen to. Do not let the Obama Administration turn these "third countries" into garbage dumps for unwanted prisoners in order to maintain the promise of spotless 'change' that his supporters are expecting. Make them accountable.

In the spirit of resistance,
Critical Mood