By KUNA,
United Nations : Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism Martin Scheinin late Wednesday said he expected the new US Administration to close down the Guantanamo detention camp, but expressed concern that some detainees might be indefinitely detained under a new legal regime.
“I have a strong expectation that the new Administration, irrespective of the name of the new President, will rapidly announce a plan to close Guantanamo detention facility,” he told a press conference following a briefing to the General Assembly’s Social and Humanitarian Committee.
Closing down the facility, he explained, means the release of the detainees who have already been determined as posing no threat and the trial of those suspected of serious crimes in federal courts where he expects them to get fair trial.
But those who are neither ready for release nor trial, he noted, will be subjected to a new legal detention regime where “indefinite detention would be continued under new legislation.” “I strongly recommend against that solution. The Military Commissions Act has many, many flaws,” he indicated.
Asked about Canadian Omar Khadr detained in Guantanamo, Scheinin expressed concern at his “serious” case.
“Indeed, It’s troubling that Canada is not doing what other countries have done in order to get their citizens out of Guantanamo,” he said.
There are now about 250 detainees in the camp. It had some 600 suspects belonging to Al-Qaida or the Taliban. Some 350 have been released to face trial in their respective countries.
Scheinin said he would soon visit Tunisia which already invited him to visit its detention centers. He is also waiting for a reply to his requests to visit Algeria, Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Philippines.
He stressed the importance of holding a fair trial when dealing with such suspects.
“Denial of fair trial alienates, marginalizes, and creates a deep feeling of injustice and exclusion and for some individuals, this may trigger the decision to resort to the inexcusable tactics of Terrorism,” he said.