Detainee Cleared for Release Is in Limbo at Guantanamo

The case is beyond belief.

"U.S. forces freed Saddiq Ahmad Turkistani from a Taliban prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in late 2001 [snip] sent him to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2002 according to U.S. lawyers who represent him.

Nearly four years later, Turkistani remains there, despite being cleared for release early this year"

It raises two policy questions. First what should be done with Turkistani and 8 others cleared for release but still held because there is no where to send them ?
Second, should congress complete the effort to prevent Habeus Corpus petitions like Turkistani's ?

The extended voluntary departure program was designed exactly for the cases of people in US jurisdiction who can not be deprted because they risk persecution. I see no reason why it has not been applied in these cases. The fact that the nine were brought to US controlled territory against their will would seem to strengthen their case for extended voluntary departure status. The fact that the Bush administration claimed that Guantanamo does not count as US territory has been irrelevant since the supreme court decided against the Bush administration.

The fact that a habeus corpus petition was clearly necessary but not yet sufficient to address this absolutely astounding injustice should convince Lindsey Graham to find some other way to balance his opposition to torture.

I guess there are two other issues.

The article by Josh White and Robin Wright is totally biased. No arguments in favor of the current policy of holding the 9 are presented at all. Does John F. Harris know about this breach of journalistic standards ?

Finally various administration officials have assured the public that prisoners in Guantanamo are the worst of the worst and must not be guaranteed any legal rights at all. One such prisoner is there because he was tortured into falsely confessing that he had conspired to kill Osama Bin Laden. I'd say the officials who assured us that he was one of the worst of the worst should be fired. Such an outrageous claim is not a crime. Holding a person against his will for 3 and one half years without any reason is. I think the depraved criminals who did this should have a fair trial and be released on their own recognisance during that trial. Of course two will have to be impeached first (remember impeach Cheney first).