GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- President Barack Obama's administration struggled with the legacy of Guantánamo in its first full day in office Wednesday, freezing court cases from the prison camps to Washington while circulating a presidential order to empty the camps within a year.

All the moves were designed to buy time to study the cases of each of the 245 or so war-on-terrorism captives held for up to seven years -- and decide who should be tried elsewhere, and who should be freed.

Under the unsigned draft Executive Order, obtained by The Miami Herald, the detention facilities ``shall be closed as soon as practicable and no later than one year from the date of this order.''

Reports from Washington say Obama is expected to sign the order Thursday.

Closure of the facilities should be accomplished by a study aimed at identifying candidates for federal prosecution, repatriation, release, transfer to a third country or to the United States.

It calls for coordination with Congress on any appropriate legislation to enable detainee transfer to the United States ``in a manner consistent with law and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.''

Obama had pledged in his campaign to close the prison camps that have drawn international ire. And the developments started cascading while Navy base TV sets were still broadcasting live from the inaugural balls Tuesday night.

Prosecutors sought a 120-day freeze, arguing war crimes trials are a prerogative of the commander-in-chief -- not an independent process -- in all of the active war court cases among the 21 that the Pentagon seeks to prosecute by military commission.

Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four alleged fellow conspirators were brought before the war court, where they objected and again offered to plead guilty. Their judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, froze the death penalty trial until May 20.

At issue is whether to prosecute war-on-terrorism captives in Guantánamo, in military commissions created by the Bush administration and White House in October 2006. Critics argue the trial offer insufficient due process, and Obama has said he'd rather use federal courts or traditional courts martial.

In Washington, Justice Department attorneys who had defended detainees' federal habeas corpus petitions, brought by volunteer civil rights attorneys, won a two-week delay in three looming hearings before U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton.

While the Pentagon holds the prisoners in the camps, government attorneys in Washington are charged with defending the detentions in the federal courts. The filings said the Obama administration was ``now assessing how it will proceed.''

It was welcome news to critics of the Bush administration's detention policy.

Human Rights First Executive Director Elissa Massimino called the measures ``the kind of bold action that is required to repair America's reputation.''

``The Bush administration's misguided embrace of indefinite detention, torture and unjust military commissions has greatly damaged America's international image, fueled terrorist recruitment and undermined international cooperation in counterterrorism.''

But the war court freeze in particular frustrated and infuriated two groups that likely agree on nothing else: the five accused 9/11 plotters, and the Sept. 11 victim families flown in by the Pentagon to see them prosecuted.

''In the name of God, I would like us to continue with the motion that we have submitted, the five of us, to confess,'' Mohammed said.

``We should continue, so we don't go backward.''

Mohammed has bragged about his role in orchestrating the Sept. 11 mass murder of 2,973 people by having suicide squads hijack U.S. airliners and slam them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

''I want it to continue right here, right now. I'll wait 120 days. I've waited eight years. But I want justice,'' said retired Brooklyn firefighter Joseph Holland of Spring Hill, Fla., whose broker son Joey was killed in the World Trade Center.

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@