Keep Guantanamo away from Afghanistan
By Sahr Muhammedally

Foreign Policy - Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 5:05 PM

Closing Guantanamo and deciding what to do with future international terrorism suspects has been harder than expected. According to the LA Times, some U.S. officials are considering expanding U.S. detention operations in Afghanistan and creating a prison similar to Guantanamo to hold terrorism suspects in order to avoid trying them in U.S. courts due to lack of evidence. This is a bad idea -- a very bad idea.

Although it may be tempting to suggest Afghanistan as an alternative holding site for suspected terrorist from places like Yemen and Somalia, I can say with certainty that establishing mini Gitmos in other countries is not a solution. If we go that route it would undoubtedly lead to a public relations disaster for the U.S. military still trying to mend relations with the Afghan people, and put a strain on diplomatic relations with the Afghan government. Not to mention such a move is legally impermissible.
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Sahr Muhammedally is a humanrights lawyer based in London.

Read the full story at: http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/23/keep_guantanamo_away_from_afghanistan