The American Civil Liberties Union criticized on Jan. 23 a US Justice Department recommendation that 47 Guantánamo Bay [2] inmates should be held indefinitely without trial. Department officials said the men were too dangerous to release, but could not be tried due to insufficient evidence. ACLU director Anthony Romero said their detention would reduce the camp's closure to a "symbolic gesture." (BBC News [3], Jan. 23)
The recommendation came as part of the findings of a presidential task force, which also urged that 35 Guantánamo detainees face trial or military commissions. Officials said that the proceedings for these detainees will most likely be carried out on US soil. The 35 named in the task force report include five detainees that are already scheduled to be tried in New York for the 9-11 attacks [4] and six detainees who have been chosen to face military tribunals [5]. Including those to be held without charge, the total number of detainees potentially slated for transfer to the US could reach 80. It is anticipated that at least some of these detainees will be held at Thomson Correctional Center [6] in Illinois, which the Obama administration announced in December it plans to buy. (Jurist [7], Jan. 22)
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