Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right: Releasing Detainees Requires a Risk Management Approach

A New York Times article today reports that a former Guantanamo detainee, Said Ali al-Shihri, became the deputy leader of al Qaeda in Yemen following his release to a Saudi rehabilitation program in 2007. The story broke one day after President Obama issued an Executive Order establishing a one-year deadline for closing Guantanamo and commissioning a review of all records, and sparked further debate about what to do with remaining detainees in the NYT "Room for Debate" blog. National security court and administrative detention proponents cited the story as further evidence of the need for such frameworks. But HRF Law & Security interim director, Deborah Colson, argued that the story instead serves as another example of Guantanamo's damage as a terrorism recruiting tool and that a risk management approach is more effective:

What’s Needed: Risk Management

Today’s report about a former Guantánamo detainee turned al Qaeda leader is sure to become a rallying cry for those who question President Obama’s decision to close Guantánamo and persist in believing that all Guantánamo detainees are dangerous terrorists.

But keeping Guantánamo open would undoubtedly pose a greater risk to our national security than shutting it down. Coercive interrogations, prolonged detention without trial and flawed military commissions at Guantánamo have only nurtured the recuperative power of al Qaeda, increasing rather than decreasing the danger to the United States.

Recently, the Center for Strategic International Studies reported that West Point researchers have uncovered scores of references to Guantánamo by al Qaeda leaders, as far back as 2002 and as recently as January 2008.

Historically, overbroad detention practices have only served to alienate and radicalize communities and undermine the work of law enforcement. As the Army’s Counterinsurgency Manual states, in order to gain the popular support it needs to confront insurgency threats, the United States must send an unequivocal message that it is committed to upholding the law and basic principles of human rights. President Obama’s executive order closing Guantánamo does just that.

Some remaining Guantánamo detainees will be prosecuted. Releasing others will require an assumption of risk, but those risks can be managed and must be weighed against the dangers posed by their continued detention. A risk management program should include individualized risk assessments of prisoners selected for repatriation and resettlement; security assurances from receiving countries, including assurances to lawfully monitor returned detainees’ activities; investment in reintegration programs; and investment in law enforcement training to assist other countries in monitoring suspects and prosecuting criminal activity.

Been There, Done That: Vandeveld Opposes National Security Courts, Advocates Trying Gitmo Detainees in Federal Courts

Darrel Vandeveld, a former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, has seen firsthand the workings of the military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Beginning in June 2007, Vandeveld worked as a prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions at Guantanamo. He resigned in September 2008, stating that the legal process at Guantanamo could not provide detainees with fair trials. His Op-Ed in today’s Washington Post states that the creation of a national security court system in the U.S. would simply continue the problems currently facing the military commissions at Guantanamo:

“There is a way out of Guantanamo. It is not as difficult as some apologists
have made it seem. Many of the detainees have not committed war crimes and the
handful of real terrorists and war criminals can be tried in federal court. The
Department of Justice has a well-developed expertise in these cases and can
achieve justice with transparency and rigorous due process.

Although some have called for a new national security court to
prosecute terrorist suspects, this should be squarely rejected. If we've learned
anything from Guantanamo, it's that it is hard to create an entirely new system
of justice from scratch. A special court would inevitably be subject to
criticism and legal challenge, only further delaying the day when the terrorists
are brought to justice.”

Read the rest of the Op-Ed here.

Advisers say Obama Preparing to Close Gitmo

Today, the AP reported that according to advisers, President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office, perhaps his first day, to close Guantanamo.

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/torture/2009/01/advisers-say-obama-preparing-to-close.asp