Bush Says Justices Control Fate of Guantanamo Prison
President Bush said he would like to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but was waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on whether inmates can face military tribunals.
“Obviously, the Guantanamo issue is a sensitive issue for people,” Bush told ARD German television on Thursday. “I very much would like to end Guantanamo; I very much would like to get people to a court.
“And we’re waiting for our Supreme Court to give us a decision as to whether the people need to have a fair trial in a civilian court or in a military court,” Bush said according to a transcript released Sunday.
The Bush administration has been criticized for the open-ended detention of people captured in the war on terrorism and for alleged interrogation techniques used at the camp that holds about 500 at the facility on the southeast corner of Cuba.
The Supreme Court case mentioned by Bush involves Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who once worked as a driver for Osama bin Laden. Hamdan has spent nearly four years at Guantanamo, and the Supreme Court has been asked to decide if he can be put on trial with fewer legal protections before a type of military tribunal last used in the World War II-era.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide in June whether military tribunals can hear the cases of the detainees.
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