Instead of focusing on Guantanamo closure, the US military is gearing up for the war-crimes trial of the youngest detainee at the infamous detention center.
The military is making efforts to ensure that Omar Khard, a Canadian held for allegedly killing a US soldier in Afghanistan, will stand trial at Guantanamo.
“The prosecutors in Khadr’s case have informed us that if the trial takes place in July 2010, it will be held at Guantanamo,” said Army Maj. Jon Jackson, one of the detainee’s Pentagon-appointed attorneys.
Only two days into Barack Obama’s presidency, he ordered the closure of the prison by January 22nd, 2010. However, the US president later on admitted that he would not be able to keep his word citing his failure to line up help and support from other countries and even his own political party as reasons.
Republicans and some Democrats have opposed moving terror suspects to the US soil for security reasons.
About 50 detainees have been transferred to other countries but the administration is still trying to come to an agreement with Yemen, a country that accounts for nearly half the remaining 198 Gitmo detainees.
“It’s troubling not only that there will be a delay in closing Guantanamo, but also that there are preparations for trials taking place in Guantanamo, a place that symbolizes a lack of lawfulness and human rights violations over the last seven years,” said Jamil Dakwar, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Khadr was captured at the age 15 and was accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US army sergeant.
Some detainees are expected to face trial in US federal courts but so far only one inmate has been transferred to New York for trial.
In November US Attorney General Eric Holder ruled out the possibility of Khadr being tried in New York, saying that the Canadian would face a military tribunal.
Some Gitmo prisoners are expected to be held indefinitely as they are considered too dangerous and their cases too compromised for prosecution.
