Ten Saudi Guantanamo inmates free

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Ten Guantanamo Bay detainees have been freed and returned home to Saudi Arabia, US and Saudi officials say.

The government in Riyadh will mitigate any risk posed by the former detainees with a programme to integrate them into civilian life, the Pentagon says.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7164147.stm

---

If the Pentagon says they will enter a program to return them to civilian life - did they actually do anything in the first place ?

[Xipe Totec]

1. Military Comissions Act Voting Record:

In an important case called Rasul v Bush in 2004, the Supreme Court held that prisoners, even though foreign and even though in a far away place, could petition US courts under habeas corpus.

So to try to get around this, in 2006 the administration proposed, and Congress passed, the Military Commissions Act (MCA).

This removed the habeas corpus right. And it is this Act which is being challenged in the Supreme Court.

These are the senators who voted for S.3930 authorizing the suspension of habeas corpus.

Title: A bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes.

The (*) next to their names means they are up for reelection in 2008:

Democrats (at the time):

Carper (D-DE)
Johnson (D-SD) *
Landrieu (D-LA) *
Lautenberg (D-NJ) *
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR) *
Rockefeller (D-WV) *
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)

Republicans:

Alexander (R-TN) *
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA) *
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS) *
Coleman (R-MN) *
Collins (R-ME) *
Cornyn (R-TX) *
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC) *
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY) *
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC) *
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK) *
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY) *
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS) *
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL) *
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR) *
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH) *
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)


References:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00259

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2008

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00259

[Kolesar]

5. It is not correct to say "we no longer have habeas corpus rights"

...the Military Commissions Act (MCA).

This removed the habeas corpus right.

[seafan]

2. At last count in September, there were 37 Saudis remaining at Gitmo.

From my research:

U.S. thins Gitmo camps; 16 Saudis released, September 6, 2007

.....

Agence France Presse, the French news agency, reported from Riyadh that the transfer brought to 93 the number of Saudi detainees handed over to the kingdom in a series of repatriation missions negotiated between Washington and the oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdom.

Another 37 Saudis are still held in the prison camps in Cuba, AFP said.

Now, subtracting these next 10 as reported by this BBC article, there should be 27 Saudis remaining.

But 27 is not the number given... BBC's number is "around a dozen" Saudis remaining.



29 December 2007

Ten Guantanamo Bay detainees have been freed and returned home to Saudi Arabia, US and Saudi officials say.

.....

Around 275 people remain at the detention centre in Cuba and the Pentagon says another 60 inmates are now eligible for transfer or release.

The US has returned dozens of Saudi former detainees over the past year.

Around a dozen Saudi nationals are estimated to remain at the US facility.

Their detention has been a source of strain between Washington and the government in Riyadh, a close US ally.

27 vs "around a dozen"...


Why this ~15-detainee discrepancy?

[rockybelt]

3. What the hell does

The government in Riyadh will MITIGATE ANY RISK posed by the former detainees with a programme to INTEGRATE THEM INTO CIVILIAN LIFE MEAN?

IS THIS SOME NEW KIND OF DOUBLE SPEAK? Mitigate the risk by putting them back into the society that they threatened in the first place?

My head is starting to hurt today. I must go empty it.

[magellan]

4. No mention of how long they've been held at Gitmo

...which is rather pertinent as reintegration appears necessary.

And it'd be interesting to know if these are real terrorists or just more innocent fish caught in Bush**'s net who are finally being freed.