Relocation of detainees raises fears

WASHINGTON // The United States is inching closer to settling on a US prison to house Guantanamo detainees once the controversial facility in Cuba is closed. Officials from the defence, justice and homeland security departments last week toured a soon-to-be-closed prison in Standish, Michigan, confirming speculation that the rural town of 1,500 residents is on the shortlist of potential destinations. The administration also is said to be considering Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the defence department's only maximum security prison. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, described the visit to Standish as a "very preliminary site survey" and stressed that no decision had been made. But the search has already touched off heated debates among residents who live near the prisons under consideration and in Washington, where some legislators worry about security risks. After federal officials visited his state, Peter Hoekstra, a Republican congressman from Michigan who is running for governor, said in a statement he remains "strongly opposed" to transferring detainees there, citing security concerns. Sam Brownback, a Republican senator from Kansas, likewise said last week a decision to move detainees to his state is both "unwise and unsafe". Mr Obama has called such fears unwarranted, and he has received the backing of some key legislators, including Carl Levin, a Democratic senator from Michigan and chairman of the armed services committee. Mr Levin said on CBS's Face The Nation last week that opponents of moving the detainees to US prisons are essentially giving in to terrorism. "We should not be cowed by the terrorists so we don't even keep them in maximum security prisons in the US," he said. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said the doubts some legislators have about the ability of US prisons to handle the inmates are "not rational". There are 229 detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay out of the nearly 800 men who have been held there since 2001. Some 550 have been released, repatriated or transferred to one of about 40 countries, including at least 194 to Afghanistan and 120 to Saudi Arabia, according to a recent report from the New America Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington. At issue are those who cannot be released. They fall into three categories: those who can be tried in US courts for violating US criminal laws; those who will be tried in military tribunals for violating the laws of war; and those who are too dangerous to release but who cannot be prosecuted. In those cases, evidence may be tainted by allegations of torture. Mr Obama has pointed to "hundreds" of terrorists currently housed in US prisons, including Ramzi Yousef, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, and Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker in the September 11 attacks, also serving a life sentence. Mr Obama has also pointed out to sceptical lawmakers that no one has ever escaped from a US "supermax" prison. As in Washington, there are mixed views among those who live near the prisons in Michigan and Kansas. Ruth Caldwell, owner of a small gift shop in Standish and vice president of the Standish chamber of commerce, said she does not believe the detainees pose a threat to her community. "I have no problem with detainees coming in. We've got an excellent prison. They've never had anybody escape from there," she said, adding that the transfer could create much-needed jobs. The unemployment rate in Standish has soared to more than 17 per cent, almost twice the national average. The prison, which is scheduled to be closed in October due to state budget cuts, supplies some 300 jobs and is the town's largest employer. But others such as Dave Munson, owner of the Summer Trail Inn, about 3km from the prison, said he worries that the federal government may choose to bring in specially trained guards rather than provide jobs for Standish residents. He also fears the town could become a target for terrorists. "I feel as though the Guantanamo Bay prisoners coming here would be like the centre on a bull's-eye," said Mr Munson, who leads protests in front of the prison three days a week. A similar debate has been playing out in communities along the Kansas-Missouri border, near Fort Leavenworth. Sheri Boatright-Guthrie, owner of the Benner House Bed and Breakfast, in the tourism town of Reston, Missouri, said she worries about customers being scared off. "We live on tourism here," she said. "If we were having people not come to visit because of the fear, that would be a very disappointing thing." [e-mail]