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How will the next President deal with Guantanamo prisoners?
By Lauren | July 6, 2008
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the prisoners in detention at Guantanamo Bay have the right under the U.S. Constitution to challenge their detention in American federal courts, we will probably see a flurry of litigation from detainees seeking release. According to NPR, the Pentagon believes that about eighty of those prisoners are no longer a threat to the U.S., but fears that releasing them would create a security risk if if their home governments persecuted or released them. The government still wants to prosecute about eighty additional prisoners, and considers approximately 100 more too dangerous to release, even though they may never be prosecuted.
The next U.S. President will have to decide what to do with them all.
The particulars of each prisoner’s case undoubtedly differ. The Supreme Court has determined, however, that the detainees have a right to Constitutional legal protections, which will have to be taken into account as each case is handled. Would it be ethical for the next President to continue to detain the Guantanamo prisoners indefinitely? If prisoners are truly believed to pose a threat to the United States, would it be ethical to release them? If not, what would be the most ethical way to deal with them? Senators McCain and Obama both want to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, but disagree on what should be done with the detainees who are still held there. Senator Obama considers moving the prisoners to a high-security civilian or military prison and trying them under civilian or military law to be viable options, while Senator McCain apparently favors moving the prisoners to a military prison and trying them under the military commissions that were set up solely to try them.
Are you comfortable with your candidate’s position on this issue? Do you believe that his view is grounded in solid ethical principles? You decide.
Topics: Presidential Campaign, Social Ethics |