Obama calls for halt to Gitmo prosecutions

In one of his first acts in office President Obama has ordered the U.S. government to suspend prosecutions of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days, military officials said Tuesday.
Papers filed at the U.S. prison camp said the request is made "in the interest of justice and at the direction of the president of the United States." It seeks a delay in proceedings until May 20.

"The judges will receive the requests and review them, and we anticipate a ruling soon," said Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman.

Tuesday's directive was issued verbally through Defense Secretary Bob Gates, according to a military official.

Obama had vowed to close the naval prison at the U.S. base. While Obama's order does not go that far, it will stop the prosecutions of 21 detainees currently facing war crimes charges.

Jamil Dakwar, a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union at the base, called the move "a good step in the right direction." Gabor Rona, an observer for Human Rights Watch, also called the order "a first step."

"The very fact that it's one of his first acts reflects a sense of urgency that the U.S. cannot afford one more day of counterproductive and illegal proceedings in the fight against terrorism," said Rona, who was in Cuba to watch the proceedings scheduled this week.

Before midnight, prosecutors in two of the 14 currently active cases had filed paperwork asking judges to grant the 120-day continuance. The military official said prosecutors in all ongoing cases are expected to file similar requests Wednesday.

Among those facing trial at Guantanamo Bay is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. A hearing in Mohammed's case was scheduled for Wednesday, and Tuesday night's order is expected to be discussed at that time, the military official told CNN.

Earlier Tuesday, the judge overseeing pretrial hearings for a 22-year-old prisoner facing trial for the killing of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan hinted at the uncertain future for the case in an Obama administration.

"We will reconvene tomorrow, unless otherwise ordered by the commission," Judge Pat Parrish told those in the courtroom.

The military prison, set up by the Bush administration in 2002, has become a major issue because critics argue it has become a symbol of mismanagement and overreach in the war on terror.

Human and legal rights advocates complained that many of the detainees were being held indefinitely although there were no criminal charges filed against them.

Dakwar said the ACLU believes all charges against the prisoners should be dropped.

"A shutdown of this discredited system is warranted," he said.

The prison camp currently holds about 245 inmates. Officials said nearly 60 detainees have been cleared for release, but no country has agreed to take them.

Reports of mistreatment of detainees led many, including Obama, to argue that the facility was not ineffective in dealing with alleged enemy combatants or for gathering good intelligence.

The retired judge in charge of determining which prisoners should face trial told The Washington Post last week that she refused to send one prisoner before the tribunals because "his treatment met the legal definition of torture."

At his final White House press conference on January 12, Bush was asked whether the military prison and harsh interrogation tactics have damaged America's standing in the world.

"I strongly disagree with the assessment that our moral standing has been damaged," he said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom; that America is a country that provides such great hope."

cnn.com