A U.S. military panel has found that an accused terrorist being held at
the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba can go free after determining
he was improperly classified as an enemy combatant. It is the first time
since the tribunals began
reviewing cases two months ago that a detainee in the war on terrorism has
had his designation as an enemy combatant overturned.
Navy Secretary Gordon England, the Pentagon official overseeing these
tribunals, would not identify this prisoner or his nationality, at least
until the detainee returns to his home country. Nor would he say what
information led the military panel to clear him of his status as an enemy
combatant.
"The data is very confusing at times, it is very conflicting at times,
and vi t is very hard, no one wears a uniform, people say all sorts of
things. It is very difficult to separate fact from fiction. And these are
very important decisions, because when we are wrong, we know that people
come back to fight against America and our friends and allies."
Of the nearly 600 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, about 150 have been
released under various procedures that determined they were no longer a
threat.
But under the tribunal process that began in July, 29 have had their
status as enemy combatants upheld( in a process that the Pentagon says is
taking longer than expected. Most detainees were picked up on the
battlefield in Afghanistan and are accused of supporting al-Qaida or the
Taleban.
"We have a lot of very bad people at Gitmo and it is I think a reminder
for us of this threat to America and it is a reminder to all of us that we
do this as right as we can. We do not want to keep anyone that we should
not keep. But keep in mind every time we release someone, there is some
risk to this because some people have come back, we know that."
Separate from the tribunal process, the Pentagon has begun pretrial
hearings on war crimes charges for as many as 15 Guantanamo
detainees. |