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http://www.defenselink.mil//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=56690
Trial Decision Brings Guantanamo Closer to Closing
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2009 – Today’s decision to pursue the prosecution of 10 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, paves the way toward resolving the disposition of others there and eventually closing the detention facility, a senior Defense Department official said today.
Defense and Justice Department officials announced that five detainees accused of conspiring to commit the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will be tried in federal court in New York. Another five, one of whom is accused of orchestrating the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, will be charged in military commissions.
“Bringing terrorists to justice is an integral part of our national security,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in a release after the announcement. “The reform of military commissions and today’s announcement are important steps in that direction.”
President Barack Obama signed an executive order in January that suspended the commissions and ordered the detention facility closed within a year. Congress recently approved reforms to the Military Commissions Act, allowing officials to move forward with determining how and where the detainees are tried.
Officials from both departments said that the decisions announced today reflected a coordinated and cooperative effort and signaled a significant step toward closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
“The announcement today in terms of the prosecutable detainees was basically Round 1,” a senior Defense Department official said on background. “I think now that we have the process in place [and] we have the prosecution teams in place, … the process will move along at a fairly efficient rate.”
While the five accused of the 9/11 attacks are going to be prosecuted in federal court, and the other five are going to resume their military commissions, officials were quick to point out that the commissions are not a lesser form of justice.
“The whole effort that we went through with the Congress to reform military commissions was for the purpose of making the process more robust, more credible, more sustainable upon appeal,” the official said. “I think that we made some very significant reforms in that regard so that commissions would not be perceived as second-class justice.”
Each case was reviewed by representatives of both departments, and the trial venue was decided based on many factors. Two things considered were the identity of the victims and the location of the offenses, the official said.
“The Cole bombing was an offense directed at the United States Navy and the victims were sailors, so that was the type of offense that we think should be tried in a … military commissions context,” the defense official said.
The defense official could not say how quickly the disposition of the other detainees will be decided, or when and where the military commissions will resume, but he did say that senior officials are anxious to get the process rolling.
“I think that you’ll see more decisions like the decision today further down the road,” he said. “Certainly, today’s announcement is not the last one.”
The five detainees whose prosecution will be pursued in federal court for the Sept. 11 terror attacks are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The Justice Department intends to pursue a prosecution against them in the Southern District of New York as soon as possible.
The detainees will be transferred to the United States for trial after all legal requirements, including a 45-day notice and report to Congress, are satisfied, and consultations with state and local authorities have been completed, officials said.
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Defense Department News Release
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http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13121
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 889-09
November 13, 2009
Departments of Defense and Justice Announce Forum Decisions for Ten Guantanamo Bay Detainees
The Departments of Defense and Justice today announced forum decisions for ten detainees at Guantanamo Bay whose cases were previously charged in military commissions, including five detainees accused of conspiring to commit the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and a detainee accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole.
“Bringing terrorists to justice is an integral part of our national security,” said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. “The reform of Military Commissions and today’s announcement are important steps in that direction.”
“Today we announce a step forward in bringing those we believe were responsible for the 9/11 attacks and the attack on the USS Cole to justice,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “For over two hundred years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the rule of law to bring criminals to justice and provide accountability to victims. Once again we will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice.”
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, has determined that the United States government will pursue a prosecution in federal court against five detainees who are currently charged in military commissions with conspiring to commit the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 individuals. These detainees are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
The Department of Justice intends to pursue a prosecution against these five individuals in the Southern District of New York as soon as possible. Prosecution of these detainees will be co-managed by teams from the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia. These detainees will be transferred to the United States for trial after all legal requirements, including a 45-day notice and report to Congress, are satisfied, and consultations with state and local authorities have been completed. The detainees will be housed in a federal detention facility in New York, which includes maximum security units that have securely held terrorism suspects in the past. Once federal charges are brought against these detainees, military commission charges now pending against them will be withdrawn.
The Attorney General has also determined, in consultation with the Secretary, that the prosecutions of five other Guantanamo Bay detainees who were charged in military commissions may be resumed in that forum. These detainees include the detainee accused of orchestrating the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured dozens of others, and a detainee who is accused of participating in an al-Qaeda plot to blow up oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz.
Secretary Gates and Attorney General Holder are confident that detainees now held at Guantanamo Bay can be detained securely in U.S. detention facilities and that their trials can be conducted effectively and safely in the United States, whether in federal court or in a military commission.
Over the past decade, the Department of Justice has successfully prosecuted many terrorism defendants in our federal courts. Today, there are more than 200 inmates who have a history of or nexus to international terrorism, who have been convicted in federal courts, and are now housed securely in Bureau of Prisons facilities. The Department has already transferred one former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Ahmed Ghailani, to the Southern District of New York to face trial for his alleged role in the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings.
With regard to military commissions, the reforms Congress recently adopted to the Military Commissions Act will ensure that commission trials are fair, effective, and lawful. Military commissions have been used by the United States to try those who have violated the law of war for more than two centuries. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Congress’ power to determine the need for military commissions and to provide their jurisdiction and procedures, and this Congress has recently reiterated its support for commissions in adopting important reforms to the Military Commissions Act.
Finally, the Secretary and Attorney General understand and share the concern of the victims of terrorist attacks about the length of time it has taken to bring the perpetrators to justice. Justice has been delayed far too long. Prosecutors in both departments are committed to moving forward with all these cases as quickly as possible and to working together to see that justice is served, consistent with our nation’s values.