Professional activists are determined to bring Guantanamo detainees to the United States. First they tried to rehabilitate released Guantanamo detainees on American shores.
Now they want to bring 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) to New York City for trial. These efforts are diametrically opposed to the preferences and safety of the American people.
Beginning in 2009, activist groups and their big law firm pro bono lawyers sought to move Guantanamo detainees to America through the case Kiyemba v. Obama.
This lawsuit dealt with five native Chinese Muslims – Uighurs – who received training and weapons from terrorists in Afghanistan in 2001.
The American military caught the five and sent them to Guantanamo where, after some time, the men shed their enemy combatant status.
The U.S. government first considered sending the five back to China – their homeland – but it ultimately agreed with the detainees that they would be persecuted there. The government then began a lengthy process of trying to convince other countries to serve as hosts.
Before the government could locate an alternative for each detainee, however, activists rushed to the five Uighurs – as if they were puppies that nobody had adopted – and insisted that they be brought into the United States.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with Washington Legal Foundation (WLF), against the activists, by ruling that nonresident aliens do not possess a substantive due process right to release into the U.S.
The activists appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, which ultimately decided not to rule on their constitutional claims after the island nation Palau kindly opened its doors to the detainees.
Unfortunately, Palau didn’t quite meet the detainees’ fancies, so they and their activist allies continue to argue for release into the U.S. This month, the Justices rebuffed the detainees and their activist patrons a second time.
Even more recent and prominent among the activists’ efforts to bring Guantanamo detainees to our shores is the dispute over KSM.
At issue is whether KSM should be tried in a civilian court in New York City or in a military tribunal in Guantanamo.
WLF has long argued for the latter – not only is a military tribunal the proper place for an enemy combatant, but it will ensure that the residents of New York City, and America’s secrets, are kept safe.
Despite the Obama administration’s agreement with WLF, however, the radicals continue to insist on New York City as the trial’s proper venue.
In the past weeks, no fewer than three editorials in The New York Times have called the administration’s position a legal disgrace.
Dahlia Lithwick, writing for Slate, called the administration, “cowardly, stupid, and tragically wrong” for its decision regarding KSM.
Not surprisingly, their arguments are legally unfounded. Military tribunals in this country date back to Revolutionary times, when British Major John Andre stood for prosecution, and they were commonly used in World War II.
On March 7, 2011, President Obama acquiesced to the will of Congress and issued an order allowing military tribunals to proceed at Guantanamo under newly adopted rules ensuring complete fairness for the defendants.
Congress seemingly understands that the American people do not want Guantanamo detainees in the country. Professional activists, forever operating with blinders on, do not. They continue to work against the wishes and well-being of the American people.
Daniel J. Popeo is chairman and general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
