On Friday, President Obama signed a defense spending and policy bill crafted annually by Congress. What was remarkable about the enactment of the routine legislation was that he reserved the right to ignore certain provisions of the law related to the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
At the heart of the matter, were provisions in the bill that withheld authorization for the transfer of prisoners to the United States. President Obama said he had the right to overlook those stipulations as Commander-in-Chief of the US military.
“The executive branch must have the flexibility, with regard to those detainees who remain, to determine when and where to prosecute them, based on the facts and circumstances of each case and our national security interests, and when and where to transfer them consistent with our national security and our humane treatment policy,” the president said. He made the declaration in a signing statement attached the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
As The Sentinel reported last month, a measure written by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) would have allowed the President to transfer Guantanamo prisoners to the US, but it was stripped out of the final NDAA days before its passage. It was replaced by further restrictions intended to undermine the president’s meager efforts to shut down the facility. Those restrictions prohibited any funding for the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States to face trial or for further detention.
The President said these provisions “violate constitutional separation of powers principles.”
“In the event that the restrictions on the transfer of detainees operate in a manner that violates constitutional separation of powers principles, my Administration will implement them in a manner that avoids the constitutional conflict,” he added.
Read the full statement here.
