Thursday, July 3, 2008

A Layman's View in Support of Closing Guantanamo

I got back from Canada. It's really nice up in Quebec at this time of year because they're celebrating their 400th anniversary. On Jean-Baptiste Day, the fireworks that were flying over the city were absolutely beautiful. I will confess to feeling slightly awkward as a Anglo in the midst of so many Franks who probably wished that Montcalm, not Wolfe, had won the battle of Quebec. That being said, I am one quarter French myself, so, arguably, I have a closer connection to the mother country than many Quebeceans. Moving on:

I had a number of intellectually stimulating conversations. One of which was between myself and some other students; we were pursuing the topic of whether we should or should not close Guantanamo. I fell on the side which argued that we should close the prison, but I don't think I articulated my argument sufficiently. Anyway, here's second chances:

It would seem that the United States should not close Guantanamo. The prison contains a high number of alleged criminals who are some of our worst enemies in the War on Terror and, since these criminals' nations of origin do not want to take them back, it follows that many of them would need to be set loose in the United States. It seems more rational that we stay the course and keep, among others, Osama bin Laden's driver behind bars until we can gather adequate evidence to try him either before a military tribunal or in a civilian court of law. Though the assessments of Guantanamo Bay Prison vary, there is little evidence that we do not show respect for Islamic values and allow for prayer times, provide Muslim chaplains, etc.

I have not been to Guantanamo myself, but, granting the above, my position on Guantanamo does not change. The reason is, even if the prison shows deference for Islamic values (a point I would not bother disputing) what is more important is that it does not show appropriate deference for Western values. If nothing else, there is one shortcoming of Guantanamo which is enough to justify the prison's closure: Some of the prisoners have been held there for years without a trial. Among the rights which we should cherish is the right to a fair and (in as far as it is possible) immediate trial and, though I am not familiar enough with the law to determine how long a prisoner can legally be held before this procedure takes place, holding someone for more than a year (not a large sentence with a trial, but not a small one without) certainly poses serious constitutional concerns, especially considering that, for every moment that these prisoners are held without a trial, they are denied the right to liberty and pursuit of happiness.

I understand that most of the prisoners are probably guilty and, therefore, they fundamentally have no claim to these rights to begin with. But that is what a trial is for. A trial is the procedure by which the state determines what rights a subject does or does not have and, absent such a procedure, these rights must be assumed. Nearly one hundred years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Increase Mather proclaimed that it was better that ten guilty go free than one innocent be punished.

Obviously, this view is, to some degree, overly idealistic. I am suggesting the closing of Guantanamo, not the release of the prisoners held therein. That, like the closing itself, is a procedure which must be determined by proper authorities, but were I one of those authorities, I would suggest moving the prisoners to high security facilities in the United States instead. The reason is because, if this were the case, the prisoners would, at the very least, become subject to national laws of jurisprudence. Americans should not be ashamed of any prisoners which we find it necessary to hold and, as immediately as possible, try, but, if we hold prisoners on an island nation known for its dictatorial cruelty because we could not legally hold them under similar circumstances in our own country, there is something seriously wrong that should put a bur in the conscience.

Again, I'm not an expert on the matter. I am a layman. I only follow the matter lazily, from time to time, in the newspapers. Feel free to respond.

1 comment:

Carter said...

Those are some good, well-articulated arguments, and I am actually not sure where I come down on this issue, but I think you might be simplifying it a little. For one thing, you point out that it is a violation of Western values to hold prisoners without trial, but that's not true of prisoners of this type. I think that prisoners of war have always been held without trial. Secondly, our government does not and should not guarantee life, liberty, and happiness to these men, because they are not our citizens. If a government is required to guarantee these freedoms to citizens and non-citizens alike, then there is no such thing as a just war, since a war entails depriving citizens of another country of some of these rights. Still, like I said, those were valuable arguments, and I especially liked your phrasing when you pointed out that while Guantanamo may respect Islamic values, it does not (in your opinion) respect those of the West.