Change" Not Happening for Guantanamo Detainees

One of the biggest campaign promises made by Obama seems to be disappearing swiftly as the administration settles into office. The first presidential act made by the new president was the order to terminate the Guantanamo Bay detention camp where the Bush administration has kept “enemy combatants” without trial in any court.
Bush’s huge human rights blunder made the United States a laughing stock for quite some time considering it’s self-designation as a leader in civil liberties. Both Barack Obama and Senator John McCain ardently advocated the end of the preposterous detention system and swore to change it once in office. However, it has become increasingly apparent that the Obama administration is not moving away from Bush’s mistake, but rather dressing up the same system in different clothes.
After a court filing on March 13, Human Rights Watch (HRW), as well as other human rights supporters, has voiced their disapproval of the Obama administration’s plan for Guantanamo Bay detainees. Although the Justice Department put major emphasis on the fact that the government will no longer be calling prisoners “enemy combatants”, the public could not be fooled by the change in terminology. Captured suspects will still be stripped of the right to habeas corpus, the protection of the individual against unlawful imprisonment.
Joanne Mariner of HRW stated that the new plan is essentially identical to Bush’s because it gives the government “the power to pick up people anywhere in the world on the grounds of support for or association with al Qaeda or the Taliban, and to hold them in military detention for what might be the rest of their lives." HRW has called for a chance in policy right away, principally in favor of mandatory trials in federal court for all detainees. Mariner insisted that "the administration should be prosecuting terror suspects in the federal courts, not looking for ways to circumvent the criminal justice system." -- Read More on Guantanamo Bay Prison