Jennifer Turner [Human Rights Researcher, Human Rights Program, American Civil Liberties Union]: "On Thursday, a Pentagon spokesman revealed that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered aides to draw up plans for closing down the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay. The fact that Defense Secretary Gates has finally taken this concrete action is an encouraging sign that President-elect Barack Obama intends to fulfill his campaign pledge to close Guantánamo and the unconstitutional military commissions.

Shutting down the Guantánamo Bay prison camp and military commissions is an important first step toward breaking from eight years of shameful policies that allowed torture and violations of U.S. and international law. By closing Guantánamo, President-elect Obama can end the poisonous legacy of the Bush administration's policies and take a critical first step in restoring American values of justice, due process, and human rights.

However, in recent weeks, even as President-elect Obama has repeated his promise to close Guantánamo, some have used fear-mongering to argue we should open a new Gitmo at home by creating national security courts and establishing what amounts to another unconstitutional detention system. The proponents of this school of thought claim that there are some detainees who are too dangerous to be released but who cannot face criminal charges. This position is mostly based on flawed assumptions about the capacity of federal courts to handle terrorism cases.

It would be legally and morally disastrous to import Guantánamo's illegal detention and military commissions system to U.S. shores by creating a whole new detention system and enact new legislation to accommodate the Bush administration's torture policies. Last week, the ACLU, along with Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights First, delivered a letter to President-elect Obama's transition team urging Obama not to create an on-shore Guantánamo system. All four organizations categorically oppose the creation of any ad-hoc illegal detention system or "third way" that permits the executive branch to suspend due process and hold suspected terrorists without charge or trial, essentially moving Guantánamo on-shore.

Instead of perpetuating the Bush administration's failed detention and military commissions experiment, the new Justice Department should conduct a fresh review of all detainee records to determine whether there is legitimate evidence of criminal activity. Where there is not, detainees should be repatriated to their home countries for trial or release, or to a third country if there is a risk of torture or abuse in their home countries. Where evidence of criminal activity does exist, detainees should be prosecuted in traditional federal or military courts, where they will face the American criminal justice system."