From [HERE] WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday reversed his two-year-old order halting new military charges against detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, permitting military trials to resume with revamped procedures but implicitly admitting the failure of his pledge to close the prison camp.
Mr. Obama said in a statement that he remained committed to closing Guantánamo someday and to charging some terrorism suspects in civilian criminal courts. But Congress has blocked the transfer of prisoners from Guantánamo to the United States for trial, frustrating the administration’s plan to hold civilian trials for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-professed chief plotter of the Sept. 11 attacks, and others accused of terrorism.
Officials declined to say whether Mr. Mohammed would be scheduled for a military commission or would await a trial in federal court if Congress lifts its prohibition.
Separately, for detainees who will not get trials, Mr. Obama set out new rules in an executive order Monday requiring a review of their status within a year and every three years after that to determine whether they remain a threat, should be scheduled for a military trial or should be released. The order also requires compliance with the Geneva Conventions and the international treaty that bans torture and inhumane treatment.
Mr. Obama said in a statement that from the beginning of his administration, “the United States has worked to bring terrorists to justice consistent with our commitment to protect the American people and uphold our values.” He said the new procedures, which had been forecast in news reports, “broaden our ability to bring terrorists to justice, provide oversight for our actions, and ensure the humane treatment of detainees.”
Administration officials declined to discuss individual cases, but one senior official said he expected new charges to be brought against detainees within days or weeks. A second official said the administration was committed to bringing “9/11 plotters to justice” but did not explain how that might occur. Among detainees believed most likely to face a military commission soon is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi accused of planning the bombing of the American destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000. He was subjected to waterboarding, which could open the way to assertions by the defense that he was tortured, complicating any trial.
Civil liberties advocates, who have long been critical of Guantánamo, expressed disappointment that the military system remained in place more than two years after Mr. Obama took office.
“This is a step down the road toward institutionalizing a preventive-detention regime,” said Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First. “People in the Mideast are looking to establish new rules for their own societies, and this sends a mixed message at best.”
Still, some lawyers for detainees said the executive order might speed the release of men imprisoned for years without trial, either after a review, a trial or a plea agreement.
“If this leads to a meaningful process and a conclusion that a person should be released, that would be an improvement,” said Joseph Margulies, a law professor at Northwestern who has represented Guantánamo prisoners and written a book on the detention camp.
Mr. Obama had suggested that he might go to Congress for a law governing indefinite detention. Human rights groups were relieved that he instead issued an executive order, which is easier to undo in the future. They were also pleased that Mr. Obama limited his order to 172 prisoners currently held at Guantánamo rather than extending it to any future detainees.
Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Center on Law and Security at New York University, said she was pleased that the executive order left open the possibility that prisoners might be transferred to the United States at some point and that the review panels would include representatives from the Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security as well as Defense and the director of national intelligence.
But Ms. Greenberg added that the order “does nothing to address the underlying moral and philosophical issues at stake at Guantánamo.”
Republican lawmakers criticized the president for not working with Congress on a law that would govern the prosecution and detention of terrorism suspects, even as they applauded him for rescinding his ban on military commissions.
“I am disappointed the White House chose to put another Band-Aid on this problem, rather than working with Congress to develop the comprehensive and long-term legislative framework we need,” said Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
But several Democrats rallied behind the White House, saying the executive order would guarantee timely trials for the remaining detainees, thus avoiding the risk that courts would just order their release.
“The executive order announced today helps clear the way to charge and try our enemies,” said Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Administration officials insisted that Mr. Obama had not retreated from his pledge to close Guantánamo Bay, despite difficulties in transferring prisoners or trying them in federal courts. Detainees have been released to their home countries and to other countries as varied as Germany and Palau, and a senior official said that process would continue.
The new procedures for military commissions guarantee detainees access to a legal representative and to a broader range of classified information, which the detainee’s representative can use to argue his client’s case before the review board.
The administration also said it would ask for Senate approval to sign on to an additional protocol of the Geneva Conventions governing humane treatment and fair trials for prisoners held in wartime. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the step would “reaffirm the determination of the United States to treat humanely all detainees in our custody.”
Since the beginning of the Obama administration, the Defense Department has transferred 67 detainees from Guantánamo Bay to 24 destinations, including the transfer of 40 detainees to third countries, according to government figures. But the active status of Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, the home of the largest remaining group of detainees, has dissuaded the administration from sending prisoners there. And most countries have agreed to accept only tiny numbers of Guantánamo detainees.
Today’s total of 172 detainees is down from 242 when Mr. Obama entered office. About 500 detainees were released by the Bush administration.