Obama to limit CIA, order Guantanamo closed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is ready to issue orders on Thursday to close Guantanamo prison and overhaul the treatment of terrorism suspects, in a swift move to restore a U.S. image hurt by charges of torture.
A draft executive order obtained by Reuters on Wednesday sets a one-year deadline to close the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where foreign terrorism suspects have been detained for years without trial.
Obama, who was sworn in as president on Tuesday, is expected to issue the order on Guantanamo on Thursday. He will also ban abusive interrogations and order a review of detention policies for captured militants, said congressional aides and a White House official.
White House counsel Greg Craig and other officials briefed congressional representatives and staff on the plans on Wednesday, the aides said.
Obama pledged during his election campaign to close Guantanamo, which became a blot on the human rights record of the United States and a symbol of detainee abuse and detention without charge under the Bush administration.
"It's exactly the kind of bold action that is necessary," said Elisa Massimino, executive director of the Human Rights First advocacy group. "Both the speed and the content will send a clear message to our own people and the rest of the world that what he said ... he meant."
The draft order would require an immediate review of how to deal with the remaining Guantanamo prisoners. The military commissions set up to try detainees would also be halted pending a study.
A military judge on Wednesday suspended the cases of five suspected plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and of a young Canadian man at Guantanamo, a day after Obama sought a 120-day suspension of pending cases.
ABIDING BY THE MANUAL
Another presidential order would ban CIA use of "enhanced" interrogation methods by making all U.S. agencies abide by the Army Field Manual, which bans techniques such as waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning the CIA says was used on three terrorism suspects.
Outgoing CIA chief Michael Hayden has defended the harsh techniques and called the Army manual too restrictive but says the agency would abide by limitations. The CIA declined comment on the reports.
Obama is also expected to order a review of all U.S. detention policies.
The Guantanamo draft specifies the camp "shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." Prisoners still in detention would be returned to their home country, released or transferred to a third country or other U.S. facility.
Attorneys representing Guantanamo detainees said the time frame was too long.
"It only took days to put these men in Guantanamo, it shouldn't take a year to get them out," said Vincent Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has organized representation for the prisoners.
But an influential Republican congressman said dangerous suspects could be relocated to the United States and possibly be freed there in court challenges.
"Closing Guantanamo Bay poses significant national security concerns to the American people," said Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House of Representatives judiciary committee.
Former President George W. Bush has said many countries that criticized the United States were unwilling to take any detainees. But the draft order says diplomatic efforts by the Obama administration could lead to new locations for a "substantial number" of current detainees.
The United States still holds about 250 men at the U.S. naval base in Cuba and wants to try about 80 of them on terrorism charges.
Two al Qaeda suspects have been convicted by the military commissions at Guantanamo and one pleaded guilty. Two of the men have already returned to their home countries.
Washington has cleared 50 detainees for release but cannot return them to home countries because of the risk they would be tortured or persecuted there. Around 500 others have been freed or transferred to other governments since 2002.

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