Articles & News

February 12, 2009

US adviser suggested delay in Guantanamo release

By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - An adviser to a U.S. general suggested delaying the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees to avoid their receiving "hero's welcomes" after they were freed, according to U.S. government documents released on Thursday.

Human rights groups, which obtained the documents under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, said it was inexcusable to propose delaying the return home of detainees, who had been cleared for release, because of publicity concerns.

In an e-mail dated Feb. 17, 2006, the political adviser to General Norton Schwartz, then-head of U.S. Transportation Command and now head of the Air Force, forwarded a summary of negative media coverage of Guantanamo together with the suggestion.

"We may need to definitely think about checking with Southcom (U.S. Southern Command) to see if we can hold off on return flights for 45 days or so until things die down," the e-mail said.

"Otherwise we are likely to have hero's welcomes awaiting the detainees when they arrive," said the e-mail, which had the heading "Guantanamo Gets Worse" in the subject line.

The e-mail did not identify the number of detainees under discussion or their nationalities.

Archives of Pentagon news releases indicate the United States did wait more than 45 days before the next release, which was announced on May 5, 2006.

In that case, the U.S. military transferred to Albania five Chinese Muslims whose continued detention had been declared unlawful by a U.S. court. Albania granted them refugee status amid fears they would be persecuted in China.

The adviser's name was redacted from the e-mail but he or she had the title "POLAD" -- an acronym for foreign policy advisers, who usually come from the State Department.

"It is astonishing that the government may have delayed releasing men from Guantanamo in order to avoid bad press," said Gitanjali Gutierrez, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the groups that obtained the documents.

"Proposing to hold men for a month and a half after they were deemed releasable is inexcusable," she said. "The Obama Administration should avoid repeating this injustice and release the innocent individuals with all due haste."

"MORE DISCREET" AIRCRAFT

The e-mail also said the command would probably have problems getting overflight and landing clearance for the flights and suggested delivering the detainees in a "smaller and more discreet" aircraft than a large transport plane.

Schwartz, now Air Force chief of staff, said in a brief statement, "TRANSCOM unfailingly performed operational mission taskings as they were assigned by the Secretary of Defense."

The Pentagon said it worked hard to repatriate and resettle Guantanamo detainees.

"The documents were part of an internal communications process to safely transfer detainees overseas, and did not reflect a statement of Department of Defense policy," said Navy Commander J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.

In one of his first acts in office, President Barack Obama ordered last month that the jail for terrorism suspects at a U.S. naval base on Cuba, which has drawn widespread international criticism, should be closed within one year.

Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, said he wanted to close Guantanamo but it was legally difficult to do so. His administration said the jail held highly dangerous terrorists and interrogations there yielded valuable intelligence.

The Pentagon says some 520 detainees have been released from Guantanamo since 2002. About 60 others have been declared eligible for transfer or release but remain at the prison pending discussions with other governments.

About 245 detainees are currently held at Guantanamo, according to the Pentagon. (Editing by Peter Cooney)