US House panel favors indefinite stay of Guantanamo, defying Obama's closure bid

The US House of Representatives panel has defied the Obama administration’s plan to shut down the infamous Guantanamo military prison and torture camp, voting in favor of keeping it open indefinitely.

The Republican-controlled Armed Services Committee voted mostly along party lines on Tuesday to uphold the current US law, which blocks the use of “taxpayer funds” to build or renovate facilities in the US to hold alleged terrorists and other captives currently held at the notorious Guantanamo detention camp at a US naval base in Cuba. 

The provisions dealing with the fate of the remaining 166 Guantanamo inmates are part of a military policy bill drafted by Armed Services Committee chairman, California Republican Howard McKeon, who released the bill Monday, two days before committee members vote on it. 

The development comes as nearly 130 Guantanamo captives remain on a hunger strike that began in February to protest harsh prison conditions and their indefinite detention without any charges or the right to a legal trial. 

Moreover, the move by mainly Republican lawmakers to keep the military detention and torture facility open indefinitely comes despite a mounting worldwide condemnation of the prison and the continued abuse of captives held there in violation of international law.

Among the most widely cited human rights violations being perpetrated by the US military against the inmates held at Guantanamo have been the use of torture, in the form of waterboarding and forced-feeding of inmates that are on hunger strike, intrusive strip-searching of inmates before allowing them to contact the lawyers, and their indefinite detention without legal charges or trials, among other things. 

This is while top US officials have even admitted that over 80 of the Guantanamo inmates remain in captivity despite being cleared for release years earlier. 

About two weeks ago, President Barack Obama renewed his 2008 campaign pledge to shut down the military prison. He argued then that the indefinite detentions with little prospect of legal charges or a trial defies the rule of law and added that “terrorists” have used the naval detention facility as a recruiting tool. 

"Given my administration's relentless pursuit of al-Qaeda's leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened," Obama said in a May 23 speech at the Pentagon-financed National Defense University.

Obama further lifted the moratorium on transferring prisoners to Yemen and said their status would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In Yemen this past weekend, officials said they were moving ahead on a facility to house any transfers from Guantanamo, AP reported Monday. 

"To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries. Where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice in our courts and military justice system. And we will insist that judicial review be available for every detainee," Obama also said. 

Despite Obama’s rhetorical push to close Guantanamo, the US military has sought in its latest budget request USD450 million for the prison camp, including millions for upgrading the temporary facility and USD40 million for a fiber optic cable. Past budgets have reflected the Washington contradiction of Obama waging a political fight to shut down the facility while the military calculates the financial requirements to keep the installation operating. 

Meanwhile, the draft bill by the House committee would authorize USD638 billion for the military in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, including USD86 billion for war expenses. 

MFB/MFB 

Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/05/307284/us-lawmakers-vote-to-keep-gitmo-open/