America's detainee problem
In a conventional war, enemy soldiers can be captured and held as prisoners of war until the end of combat. In the criminal justice system, an arrest for a violent crime will lead to a charge, followed by a guilty plea or jury trial. But some individuals imprisoned in the war on terror declared after the 9/11 attacks face the worst of both worlds: detention without trial but without the consolation that they will be freed and returned to their families in a tolerable period of time.
Someone who lived in that twilight world for a decade was Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, a Yemeni who was captured near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in 2001 and held at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of involvement with Al Qaeda or other enemy forces. (Latif insisted he was on a journey to seek medical care.) Latif was found dead in his cell this month. Although no cause of death was announced, Latif's lawyer said his client had repeatedly attempted suicide and had engaged in hunger strikes. Whatever the precise cause, Latif's lawyer said, "his death was caused by his detention." Latif had been at Guantanamo for a decade without trial.
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, of 167 men now confined at Guantanamo — down from a peak of nearly 800 in 2005 — 86, including 55 from Yemen, have been cleared for release yet remain at the facility. Forty-six inmates have been designated for indefinite detention because, according to the government, they can be neither tried nor safely released. Even inmates facing military commission trials — including self-proclaimed 9/11 architect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed — may not be released even if they are acquitted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-detention-20120923,0,4057604.story
