Obama's First Executive Order: Shut Down Guantanamo Bay

January 13, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Muslim Public Affairs Council

http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=766

President-elect Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order on his first day in office to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, according to media reports. The Muslim Public Affairs Council expressed its support today for the immediate shut down of the controversial detention center and suspending the military commissions system for trying detainees.

Obama's decision to shut down Guantanamo is a much-needed signal to Americans and people throughout the world that the new administration is committed to resurrecting traditional American legal values.

MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati said:

Detainee conditions and treatment at Guantanamo Bay undermine our commitment to human rights, and soil America's image abroad. Our nation's ability to win the war depends on our willingness to stick to the principles that define us. Let us hope that the closure of Guantanamo will end the era of secret detention facilities, secret trials, indefinite detention, and overly broad executive authority.