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View Winners → Judy Chu visits Guantanamo Bay – Wants it closed
Arcadia Weekly May 29, 2013
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Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27) released the following statement after visiting the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:
“After seeing Guantanamo firsthand, I am more convinced than ever that we must close the detention center. Its very existence is a departure from the values the American people have long held. Our government has determined that half of the detainees can be transferred, yet they remain under lock and key. Meanwhile, their lives have been reduced to a caged existence. Even the little recreation area they have is surrounded by concrete walls two-stories high and bound with barbed wire. This situation has become so bleak that over 100 detainees are on hunger strike, many of whom are now being force fed.
“Nobody disputes that many of the people at Guantanamo deserve to face justice for what they have done. But the system is so broken that for many that day will never come. Instead of holding these people in an indefinite limbo, we should be trying them in a court of law. Instead of relying on military commissions, which have convicted only seven terrorists since 9/11, we should be relying on civilian courts which have convicted nearly 500 terrorists in the same time period.
“Ultimately, this is more than a policy concern – it’s a moral one. This nation is synonymous with justice and the rule of law. Our government must live up to the ideals that the American people abide by each and every day. And that starts by closing Guantanamo.”
Since September 11, 2001, 60 federal district courts in 37 states have successfully and safely convicted at least one suspected terrorist. Not one has suffered any form of retaliation. Unlike military commissions, federal courts can try suspects for offenses related to fraud, immigration status, and illegal possession of firearms and narcotics. Military commissions have also had trouble prosecuting conspiracy and material support charges, which are routine in federal court.
Federal prisons hold more than 300 individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses. None has ever escaped. Of the seven detainees convicted by military commission, only three remain in custody.
