President Obama Signs Executive Orders to Close Guantanamo and Ban torture

On his second day in the White House (January 22, 2009), President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base within one year.

That same day, he also signed an executive order ensuring the lawful interrogation of individuals in U.S. custody. This order officially:

1. Bans torture and inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees by requiring that U.S. Army Field Manuals be used as the guide for terror interrogations.
2. Closes the CIA's secret prisons and ends the Bush administration's CIA program of enhanced interrogation methods that have included abhorrent procedures like water-boarding.
3. Provides the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all U.S.-held detainees.
4. Establishes an interagency task force to lead a systematic review of detention policies and procedures and a review of all individual cases.

UUSC applauds President Obama for taking these important steps. UUSC believes that any government-sponsored act of torture, under any circumstances, is profoundly immoral, unjustified, and illegal.

In his inaugural speech, Obama expressed the values and beliefs of all Americans of conscience when he stated:

We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

Show President Obama that he has the support of the American people. Tell President Obama that you applaud these executive orders, which uphold basic international and U.S. law!

Our country's practice of torture and illegal detention under the Bush administration proved disastrous on several fronts. Detainees at Guantanamo were not only treated illegally, in violation of international laws such as the Convention Against Torture, but also held illegally, in violation of due process laws granted in the Bill of Rights.

However, cleaning up the legal mess left by the Bush administration will not be easy. In the past few weeks, several stories have emerged about former Guantanamo detainees who, on their release, returned to militancy, in Yemen and other countries. This highlights the enormous legal and political challenges confronting the Obama administration.

Obama's executive orders are only the beginning of a long process to achieve justice for detainees at Guantanamo and restore our values and image around the world. What is clear is that America is on a renewed path of commitment to law, justice, and diplomacy, as we confront today's global challenges.

As the process of closing Guantanamo unfolds, UUSC will continue to work with its partners and allies to press the new president and administration for greater accountability.