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"The day that it is closed will be a good day," Bray told IOL. |
WASHINGTON — US Muslim leaders welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order to close down Guantanamo on his first day in office, saying this should be a first step towards eradicating many other rights violations.
"The day that it is closed will be a good day," Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation, told IslamOnline.net.
Two Obama advisors have told the New York Times that he will issue an executive order to shut the notorious detention camp on his first full-day of office.
Obama, who takes office on January 20 as America's first-ever black president, has pledged during his presidential campaign to close Guantanamo to help restore America's moral stature.
The US has been holding hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo, opened in early 2002, for years.
The outgoing Bush administration had designated them unlawful enemy combatant to deny them legal rights under the American legal system.
The detention camp has for years been criticized by international watchdogs and rights icons for operating outside the law and for being a stain on America's human rights record.
Bray said Guantanamo was set up to "circumvent the law, both US and international law."
"It should have never existed."
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), agrees.
"Guantanamo is a betrayal of America's justice system," he insists.
"We called on the Bush administration to shut it down. Our call fell on deaf ears."
First Step
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| "We welcome this as a first positive step from President-elect Obama towards restoring the rule of law," Awad said. |
Muslim leaders and rights advocates believe that closing Guantanamo should be a first step in addressing several other rights violations.
"We welcome this as a first positive step from President-elect Obama towards restoring the rule of law," Awad said.
He believes that another major step should be giving the Guantanamo detainees fair trials.
"All people have the right to have their day in court."
Only 22 of the detainees have been charged since 2002.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling upon Obama to create a timeline for shuttering the military commissions and releasing or charging detainees who have been indefinitely held for years.
"An executive order lacking such detail…would be insufficient," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said in a statement.
Experts believe that even if Obama issues the order on his first day in office, it would probably take several months to close the detention camp.
One major factor would be finding a place to hold the detainees when Guantanamo is closed.
The Washington Times reported Wednesday that the Pentagon was already examining several military bases including Camp Pendleton in San Diego and Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), hopes Guantanamo would be the first move by the Obama administration to improve Washington's battered global image.
"We consider this step as the first of many the President-elect will take in restoring the constitution in our justice system and in restoring American credibility in the international arena."
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