Barack Obama orders closure of Guantanamo Bay prison

In a dramatic second day of his presidency, Barack Obama ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay, banned the use of torture by US personnel and told the Central Intelligence Agency to shut down its secret “black site” overseas prisons.

The moves, aimed at restoring US moral authority and international standing, repudiate some of the most divisive war-on-terror policies of the Bush administration and meet key promises made in the election campaign.

But the absence of important detail has raised questions about how far removed from the Bush years the new administration’s policies on dealing with terrorist suspects will actually be.

Mr Obama provided no details on where the 248 terrorist suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay would go when the prison is closed, how many of them would face trial, what form trials would take and what steps the US would take to ensure that detainees were not tortured in countries where they might be repatriated.

Retired admiral Dennis Blair, Mr Obama’s nominee to head the 13 US intelligence agencies, graphically illustrated the complexities when he told the Senate intelligence committee that torture was immoral, illegal and ineffective but at the same time refused to say if waterboarding, or simulated drowning, was a form of torture.

Admiral Blair admitted that striking the right balance between protecting Americans and safeguarding US values would be difficult.

To resolve the issues, Mr Obama has commissioned a taskforce to report on where the Guantanamo detainees should be sent, how they should be prosecuted and whether they should have the same legal rights as UScitizens.

A second taskforce will examine whether the 19 interrogation techniques defined in the US Army Field Manual are sufficient in dealing with hardened terrorists. The taskforce, to be led by the Attorney-General, with the Secretary of Defence and the Director of National Intelligence as co-vice chairs, has the power to determine if “different or additional guidance” is necessary for the CIA to deal with terrorists.

It will also look at rendition and other policies for transferring individuals to third countries with a view to ensuring that individuals “do not face torture and cruel treatment if transferred”.

The administration must also consider how to deal with the remaining detainees – including those such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of 9/11 – who cannot be transferred to other countries but who could pose a serious danger to the US.

One idea is to rehouse many of them in a military jail at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and on a naval ship in North Carolina.

“Absolutely opposed,” said Sam Brownback, a Republican senator from Kansas. “The community is opposed. The base isopposed.”

Senior aides to Mr Obama have reportedly conceded that intelligence officials in the CIA have expressed serious concerns about the new restrictions on interrogation methods.

Dick Cheney said last week that American lives “have been saved” by intelligence gleaned through harsh interrogations.

Mr Obama said the US intended to prosecute the continuing struggle against violence and terrorism “in a manner that is consistent with our values and ourideals”.

“I think the American people understand that we are not, as I said in the inauguration, going to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals,” he said.

“America’s moral example must be the bedrock and the beacon of our global leadership.”

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay praised Mr Obama for making the closure of Guantanamo Bay a priority and for setting in motion a system to safeguard the fundamental rights of its detainees.

“Waterboarding and other forms of interrogation that may amount to torture, detention for prolonged periods without trial or proper judicial review, and what became known as ‘extraordinary rendition’, these are all aberrations that should never have happened,” Ms Pillay said.

She said those who were innocent or arbitrarily detained should receive “adequate recompense for the six or seven years of their lives that have been lost”. She also called for an investigation into torture at Guantanamo.

The ranking Republican on the house intelligence committee, Pete Hoekstra, said the many unanswered questions meant Mr Obama had placed “hope ahead of reality”.

“Many decisions, made early on after 9/11, were made without a clear plan,” Mr Hoekstra said.

“Is the President risking the samemistakes by making decisions before having a clear plan inplace?”

The executive order closing Guantanamo directs Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek international co-operation aimed at achieving the transfers of detainees.

That may come as early as next Monday, when European Union foreign ministers are to discuss the possibility of a collective agreement to take some of the Guantanamo detainees. Human Rights Watch claims Finland, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Britain and Sweden have shown interest in taking detainees.