January 2, 2005
The Washington Post

Long-Term Plan Sought For Terror Suspects

by Dana Priest

Administration officials are preparing long-range plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists whom they do not want to set free or turn over to courts in the United States or other countries, according to intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials.

The Pentagon and the CIA have asked the White House to decide on a more permanent approach for potentially lifetime detentions, including for hundreds of people now in military and CIA custody whom the government does not have enough evidence to charge in courts. The outcome of the review, which also involves the State Department, would also affect those expected to be captured in the course of future counterterrorism operations. . . .

One proposal under review is the transfer of large numbers of Afghan, Saudi and Yemeni detainees from the military's Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center into new U.S.-built prisons in their home countries. The prisons would be operated by those countries, but the State Department, where this idea originated, would ask them to abide by recognized human rights standards and would monitor compliance, the senior administration official said. . . .

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David Rose, "How We Survived Guantanamo Hell," Observer, March 14, 2004

"Senator Says Lifetime Terror Detentions 'Bad Idea'," Reuters, January 2, 2005

Juan Cole, "Pipes Favors Concentration Camps," Axis of Logic, January 2, 2005

Julian Borger, "US plans permanent Guantanamo jails," Guardian, January 3, 2005

Mike Whitney, "Injustice as State Policy: The Guantanamo Gulag," CounterPunch, January 3, 2005

Douglas Jehl and Neil A. Lewis, "U.S. Said to Hold More Foreigners in Iraq Fighting," New York Times, January 8, 2005

Douglas Jehl, "Pentagon Seeks to Transfer More Detainees From Base in Cuba," New York Times, March 11, 2005

Alan Elsner, "U.S. Prison Population, World's Highest, Up Again," Reuters, April 24, 2005

[. . . the United States Government should either expeditiously bring all Guant‡namo Bay detainees to trial or release them without further delay. They also call on the Government to close down the Guant‡namo Bay detention centre and to refrain from any practice amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, discrimination on the basis of religion, and violations of the rights to health and freedom of religion. The investigators also request full and unrestricted access to the Guant‡namo Bay facilities, including private interviews with detainees. Consideration should also be given to trying suspected terrorists before a competent international tribunal."HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS ISSUE JOINT REPORT ON SITUATION OF DETAINEES IN GUANTANAMO BAY," United Nations, February 16, 2006]

Ian Herbert and Ben Russell, "'The Americans are breaking international law... it is a society heading towards Animal Farm' - Archbishop Sentamu on Guantanamo," Independent, February 18, 2006