Why are American Citizens not held at Guantanamo Bay?

Question

If U.S. citizens are considered to be terrorists or have assisted terrorists why is that they can not be held at Guantanamo Bay and other nationals can.

Answer 1

The people being held at Guantanamo Bay are "military combatants". US Citizens have constitutional rights, where ever they are. The military combatants at Guantanamo Bay are not protected by the constitution. If they were held on Americal soil then they also would be protected by the constitution. This was a way that they could be held until the end of the Middle East conflict without going to trial.

Answer 2

Because an American citizen who participates in terrorism against America actually has a worse standing than the enemy combatants. He is also guilty of treason. That is a crime that only an American citizen can commit and for which there are already courts set up to deal with.

As far as the enemy combatants in GITMO are concerned, they have no standing with the Geneva Convention and they have no standing in criminal court because they did their deeds in another country. Also, in a military action of this sort there is no opportunity to gather forensic evidence or subpoena witnesses. So, you hold them until hostilities cease. To do otherwise would mean that American soldiers will simply stop taking prisoners and not allow them to surrender. No point in letting them live just so they can be repatriated, rearmed and sent back out against us. This isn't a game of paintball, you know.


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Answer 3

Because the US government are hypocrites. They keep the Afghanistan national army 'terrorists' in Guantanamo so they do not get the protection of US law so they can be tortured and mistreated without trial.

It is a crime against humanity to be honest.

Answer 4

The only people being held in Gitmo are there from the Afghan War. Do you remember hereing about the CIA agent killed the the American Taliban? Yeah, well, he killed him during a prison riot/takeover. It was after that riot that all the Afghanis we captured were shipped to Cuba, to keep the same thing from happening.

Answer 5

Because US nationals have a hightened protection under the Constitution. We are not willing to take an American and put them in Gitmo...but we still treat them terribly....Treason is the only Crime specifically defined in the Constitution...it is the Death Penalty Crime above all others...American traitors don't get off easy.

Answer 6

Now you know why america is hated an despised buy so many people.
It treats everyone else in the world like pigs, but would not even dream of treating it's own citizens like that.
I say put bush in Guantanamo bay and let him suffer at the hands of all the nations that he has oppressed.

Answer 7

GITMO is for FOREIGN national terrorists...as a citizen of the US they will have more rights...Right to Counsel...Right to speedy trial...etc....NON US persons are not guaranteed these rights as they are not given them nor do they deserve them

Answer 8

Because we have our own prison system in place. Gitmo is only for people of other countrys that we do not control there prison system. Too hard to keep track of people in other prisons. We police our own, always have.

Answer 9

years in the past there replaced into, in spite of the fact that it brought about such an insurrection, it ended immedietly. yet there is not any longer from now on now that the widespread public knows. a jointly as in the past there have been a collection of muslim extremists who have been caught close to philidelphia ploting to attack a militia base. they have been all u.s. voters, and that they have been given an ordeal in u.s., yet have been charged as prisoners of conflict.

Answer 10

Because American lawyers are or have worked to get them a day in court.