Leaning to political pressures, the US Attorney General asked military prosecutors in Guantanamo bay to file war crimes charges against 9/11 suspects, abandoning an earlier decision to file the case before a civilian court.
His announcement was an embarrassing reversal of the administration’s decision in November 2009 in which he announced that 9/11 suspects would face civilian courts in New York.
That decision had been welcomed by civil rights groups but strongly opposed by many lawmakers, especially Republicans, and New Yorkers.
Holder blamed lawmakers for the policy reversal, saying their December decision to block funding for prosecuting the 9/11 suspects in a New York court “tied our hands” and forced the administration to resume military trials.
“We must face a simple truth: those restrictions are unlikely to be repealed in the immediate future,” Holder said.
He added that five suspects, including the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be prosecuted in a military court in Guantanamo.
The Justice Department also disclosed that a federal grand jury in New York had indicted the five detainees under seal in December 2009.
It released the 81-page indictment, which included names of 2,976 people who died in the attacks, along with a judicial order unsealing and dismissing it.
At least 3,000 people were killed when terrorists rammed hijacked planes into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon headquarters in September 11, 2001.
Obama has ordered the closure of the notorious detention camp as it has tarnished the United States’ reputation abroad.
The US is holding hundreds of detainees in Guantanamo and declared them as “unlawful enemy combatants” to deny them legal rights under the US legal system.
The camp has for years been criticized by international watchdogs and rights icons for operating outside the law, amid reports of torture and rights abuses.
Hailed
The reversed decision was praised by several lawmakers, while attacking the Obama administration for ever thinking of doing otherwise.
“It’s unfortunate that it took the Obama administration more than two years to figure out what the majority of Americans already know: that 9/11 conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is not a common criminal, he’s a war criminal,” said Representative Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Some Democrat lawmakers also hailed the administration’s decision Monday.
“This means with certainty that the trial will not be in New York,” Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat who objected to holding the trial anywhere in New York State, said.
“While not unexpected, this is the final nail in the coffin of that wrong-headed idea. I have always said that the perpetrators of this horrible crime should get the ultimate penalty, and I believe this proposal by the administration can make that happen.”
Chuck Schumer, a Democratic senator for New York, called it “the final nail in the coffin of that wrong-headed idea.”
Though reversing its opposition, some experts said the new decision is unlikely to hurt the image of Obama administration, who declared two days ago running for a second presidential term.
A military trial for the five men was “the only rational course of action,” said James Carafano, a foreign policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
“The (US) public basically just ignores the issue these days. Even overseas, Europeans who were so critical before of Guantanamo have really gone to sleep on the issue,” he said.
Some of the families of the 9/11 victims had a different opinion, denouncing military trials for civilians.
The use of military commissions was “just not satisfying to people who want real justice,” a member of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows who lost a relative in 9/11 attacks told Reuters.
Source: OnIslam
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