Indefinite detention of terrorism suspects in U.S.

WASHINGTON.—The recently signed National Defense Authorization Act for the 2012 fiscal year (NDAA) has generated fierce criticism among political analysts, given that one of its paragraphs permits the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects.

On December 31, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the bill which allocates $662 billion to the defense sector, while he did express disagreement with some aspects, such as the clause modifying the interrogation regime of imprisoned foreign suspects.

The White House differences did not exactly arise for ethical reasons related to the treatment of detainees, but because the Obama administration realized that the new regulations weaken presidential authority in certain cases.

However, the bill consolidates two central controversies in the so-called war on terror: the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects without charges being brought and the imprisonment without trial of U.S. citizens, according to the All Gov.com website.

The NDAA bill also allows terrorism related cases to be moved from the jurisdiction of the FBI and the civil justice system, to fall into the hands of the military, it added.

Civil rights defense groups have attacked the decision, given their mistrust of the President’s communiqué shortly after signing the law in which he assured that the his administration would not permit the military to hold U.S. citizens indefinitely.

Obama’s action constitutes a stain on his legacy, as he will always be known as the president who signed for the indefinite detention of individuals without charges or trial, said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Romero lamented that any hope that the current government would revert the constitutional excesses of George W. Bush in his alleged global war on terrorism has now been extinguished.

The Bush administration sent terrorism suspects belonging to Al Qaeda, insurgent Taliban and other individuals to the prison the U.S. maintains on its illegal Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba.