What’s next for Guantanamo?
As the latest trials for 9/11 suspects conclude, the debate over the use of the military prison continues.
It has been seven years since Barack Obama first signed the order to shut Guantanamo Bay to end what he called the troubled era of wartime behaviour.
But with only a month left on his time in the Oval office, there are doubts whether he can fulfill that promise and the focus has turned to what his successor, Donald Trump, will do instead.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4‘Keffiyehs seized, left to die’: Inside the Palestine Action hunger strike
- list 2 of 4Afghanistan frees detained US citizen Dennis Coyle as gesture of ‘goodwill’
- list 3 of 4Israel holding more than half of Palestinian child detainees without charge
- list 4 of 4Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro seeks court approval for visit from Trump official
The president-elect has already vowed to keep the prison open and lock up “more bad dudes”.
A total of 59 detainees still remain in Guantanamo Bay, and only a third of them have been cleared for release.
As more prisoners face trial, will Obama be able to achieve an important part of his legacy in closing Guantanamo?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Morris Davis – Former Guantanamo prosecutor, now teaching at Howard University, Washington DC
Stephen Rodriguez – Former adviser to Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign
Gordon Mehler – Former non-government observer at Guantanamo representing New York lawyers