change we can believe in

President Obama promised to close the prison Guantanamo within 6 months of his presidency. According to tagesschau.de it is unlikely that the torture prison will be closed within the next four years.
(Update: NY Times article )

After the thwarted terrorist attacks last Christmas, only 40% of the US population is in favour of shutting Guantanamo down.

What do the other 60% stand for?

For keeping people in a prison who have not had a trial, in up to 8 years. Who were never properly accused of anything, in a court. Who are not allowed to see lawyers, who cannot talk to their families. Who are tortured on a regular basis (so much proof leaked during the last years, yet noone does anything about it). Remember the American logic: the Geneva Convention is valid in war, but the war against terrorism is not a war, therefor torture is legal.

Not only human rights organizations, but the United Nations (!) have critizied the US repeatedly (!) for the prison. They said that “not even in China” prisoners were denied access to a lawyer.

There were quite a few court decisions against the prison, like this one in 2008:

The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered its third consecutive rebuff to the Bush administration’s handling of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay, ruling 5 to 4 that the prisoners there have a constitutional right to go to federal court to challenge their continued detention. [...]
Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the truncated review procedure provided by a previous law, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, “falls short of being a constitutionally adequate substitute” because it failed to offer “the fundamental procedural protections of habeas corpus [...] The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.”

Alas, they were simply ignored by the politics.

Court: “They have the right to …”
Politics: “No thanks, we’d rather not”.

What country is that?!

2002:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2003:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2004:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2005:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2006:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2007:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2008:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2009:
january – february – march – april – may – june – july – august – september – october – november – december;
2010:
january – february – march – april – may – june

That is the time many prisoners were incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay are still waiting for something to happen. Something except for torture and daily humiliation.