President-elect Barack Obama warned Sunday -- on the seventh anniversary of the opening of the war-on-terrorism prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba -- that he likely would not make good on his campaign pledge to close it during his first 100 days in office.

He spoke in an ABC News interview as demonstrators across the globe donned trademark orange jumpsuits to condemn the prison camps -- from downtown Prague in the Czech Republic, where critics knelt behind chicken wire, to Miami Beach, where protesters paraded past brunch crowds on Lincoln Road.

''Obama: Keep Your Promise. Close Guantánamo,'' read a sign carried by several demonstrators, another curiosity amid the open-air Sunday diners and farmers' market crowds.

At one point, the 20 or so protesters trotted past a lone man standing vigil beneath a giant cross and declaring, ''Jesus Saves. Believe or Perish,'' as concertgoers streamed into a matinee performance of the New World Symphony.

SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY

Sunday marked seven years to the day that the first 20 detainees arrived at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba in an airlift from Afghanistan. The base became the showcase center for an ''enemy combatant'' policy that triggered international condemnation.

In Cuba, U.S. military spokesmen said last week that 30 of the 250 captives from 31 nations were engaging in a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention. Ten percent of the terrorism suspects were being force-fed, the military said.

''I think it's going to take some time,'' Obama told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week. He said administration legal teams were consulting with ``our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do.''

Obama reiterated his campaign pledge to close the camps as ``part of our broader national security strategy, because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values.''

Critics complain that the Bush administration has denied to war-on-terrorism captives, from Cuba to Afghanistan and also on U.S. soil, meaningful opportunities to contest their indefinite detention. The Pentagon says it houses its post-9/11 detainees humanely and in the spirit of the Geneva Conventions.

`THE CHALLENGE'

Obama warned that closing the prison camps is ``more difficult than I think a lot of people realize. Part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom may be very dangerous, who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication.

``And some of the evidence against them may be tainted, even though it's true.''

ACHIEVING A BALANCE

Obama described the challenge confronting his administration as balancing the rule of law and Anglo-American justice while not releasing people ``who are intent on blowing us up.''

About two dozen protesters from as far away as Palm Beach County took part in Sunday's march in Miami Beach, organized by Amnesty International.

Demonstrators distributed leaflets on Lincoln Road that called for closure in the first 100 days.

''It's important now to keep on being the voice for these issues,'' said Wendy Bourgault, 46, of Pompano Beach, who said she supported Obama.

She said she dropped her sons off at Sunday catechism class and for the first time donned a symbolic orange jumpsuit, like those that some prisoners at Guantánamo wear, because she believed that if her sons were arrested somewhere, ``they would deserve a fair day in court, too.''

MILITARY COMMISSIONS

Of the 250 men detained at Guantánamo, 19 face charges at the special Military Commissions that the Bush White House championed as an alternative to traditional military or criminal trials.

Obama has said he prefers federal trials or courts martial to the commissions, but has not yet indicated whether he will stop the war court -- which is scheduled to stage its next trial Jan. 26, less than a week after he takes office.

''We get lost in the idea that only people who are bad get put in jail,'' Bourgault said. ``But everyone deserves a day in court.''

OTHER PROTESTS

Her protest was mirrored across Europe, including outside the U.S. Embassy in London, where demonstrators added shackles to their attire, and opposite the U.S. Embassy in Lima, where protesters added spooky white masks -- and a banner declaring, ``Close Guantánamo!''

Lincoln Road's lunchtime crowds noted the demonstration with bewilderment. ''Look! Escaped convicts,'' one teenager shouted as the sign-carrying protest wound past the German beer garden.

''Keep torturing!'' a man shouted after demonstrators handed him an Amnesty International leaflet titled ``Countering Terror with Justice.''

The Pentagon's Sunday spokesman did not return a call and e-mail seeking an anniversary comment.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@