If Obama can't close Guantanamo prison then could he pardon all prisoners ?

Interesting question. I would say that there would be a heavy political price to pay but WTF he is months away from retirement anyway. I say go for it; threaten to move them all to the mainland and when the Reps pitch a fucking bitch send them back to whatever country we got them from. Raze the site and give Cuba back its land. No more prisoners to support, no military base to pay for and a free gimme to the Cuban people showing our goodwill toward them. Win, Win, Win all the way round.

The President can’t “pardon” anyone for something they have not been found guilty of doing, he can, and has, figured ways to send them to a third country that will, or promises to, keep them under control.

I really have not understood why we cannot try them in the US. It is like people are afraid they will be out on bail or be set free with ankle monitors.

They are sort of like prisoners of a war with no end. If the US followed the Geneva Convention maybe it could be solved that way.

Usually being found guilty precedes being pardoned but Guantanamo tears up all the rule books so it might be worth a shot. However prisoners who feel they are innocent might object to being pardoned as it suggests they are guilty of something even if no one knows what it is. Civilised countries resolved these tricky issues back in 1215 when Magna Carta proclaimed that everyone is subject to the law and the right to a fair trial.

No. The prisoners were never convicted of a crime.

Hasn’t he already offered most of them positions of leadership in his Administration?

They might actually prefer Guantánamo.

Well, he has set the worst of the bunch free, as I recall. @CWOTUS

He can’t pardon anyone for what they haven’t been convicted of.

@flutherother

That’s not exactly what the Magna Carta was. It was basically an agreement of legal rights and obligations between land owners and the Crown, it didn’t apply outside of England, and all parties involved pretty much wiped their ass with the document not long after it was signed (leading to its annulment less than a year later).

@Darth_Algar The most famous clause in Magna Carta says ‘No man shall be arrested or imprisoned except by the judgment of their equals and by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.’ This is still part of the law in England and in other civilised countries and far from being toilet paper is now generally accepted as a fundamental human right.

Sure, but it only took several centuries for most governments to come around to actually recognizing that as a fundamental human right.

@CWOTUS No, not in the administration. I believe they were offered the chance to be Trumps VP.