8-16-16 Close Guantanamo Never... or Expand It? |
By Debra Sweet Asked about Guantánamo in the past, Trump has said he would like to “load it up with bad dudes.” He wouldn’t specify to the Herald whether as president he would again allow terrorism suspects captured abroad to be transferred to the detention center. I'll save you the trouble. She likes Obama's plan to "close" it. But she's not talking about it in the campaign. Late on Monday August 15, the Pentagon announced that 15 Guantanamo prisoners were transferred to the U.A.E. These include six who have been cleared for release since 2010, and others the government had said were "too dangerous" to ever charge or release as recently as earlier this year. Muhammed Rahim al-Afghani, a "High-Value Detainee" and a "Free" Person Mr. Rahim must be one of the most interesting prisoners still in Guantanamo. He's represented by our friend Carlos Warner, a federal defender in Cleveland who represents many prisoners. Carlos and Mr. Rahim's brother spoke to Rolling Stone late last year: Warner hopes to convince the government the only thing "high value" about Rahim is that he bore witness to his own torture. In the meantime, Rahim writes Warner brief, often one-paragraph notes, some of which resemble haiku, on topics ranging from LeBron James to Donald Trump to Caitlyn Jenner (who he suggested use spray tan on her legs). In one note from 2013, he said he reads Rolling Stone. Not long ago, he sent Warner a brief letter, quoting Camus: "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence becomes an act of rebellion." He then wrote, "I AM HERE." Andy Worthington wrote Monday that Mr. Rahim, the last person into Guantanamo, has come before a Periodic Review Board, where his continued detention will be determined. 67% of the prisoners who have been reviewed have been cleared for release, as Andy says, "ought to be embarrassing for the Obama administration, whose task force had concluded that they were 'too dangerous to release' or that they should be prosecuted." Andy writes: Warner also described his client as a “funny guy” with “many ideas on a wide range of issues,” as Al-Jazeera described it. He added that the letters “give insight into the type of person Rahim is and should cause people to ‘look at his case and ask why is he being held.’”
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