Washington, August 03: The Obama administration is considering transfer of some detainees at Guantanamo Bay detention center to a special facility containing courtrooms, a report says.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the Washington Post reported on Monday that the new prison camp would also contain long-term living quarters.
The hybrid site would be jointly run by the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security, with each responsible for different inmates, the Post said.
The site would include courtrooms for federal criminal trials and military commissions to prosecute terror suspects; a maximum security lockdown for prisoners held in indefinite detention and those serving out their terms; and living quarters for detainees cleared for release but who have no country willing to accept them.
An unnamed government official told the paper that the site is one idea being considered by a task force looking into US detention policy, but has not yet reached the level of recommendation.
Sites under consideration include the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas military prison, and a maximum-security prison in the economically hard-hit state of Michigan currently scheduled to be closed, according to The Post.
The notorious prison Guantanamo is located in southeastern Cuba where 229 terror suspects are still held without charges after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
After taking office in January, President Barack Obama ordered the closure of the jail by January 2010.
Since the order issued, 11 detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo, including four to their home countries, and another was flown to New York, where he faces criminal charges in the US federal court.
—-Agencies