The United States still plans to prosecute no more than 80 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, senior US defense officials have said. Ten men charged before an old military tribunal system are likely to face charges first, followed by some of the 14 so-called high value detainees transferred to the base from a formerly secret Central Intelligence Agency detention program. Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee operations, told reporters at Guantanamo that about 60 to 80 defendants are expected to go on trial. Assuming people are charged with war crimes, my understanding is arraignments and trials could start as early as next summer, he said. There will be a group that will be prosecuted, he said. More will be transferred. It s the very high value detainees, the very dangerous detainees who are the most difficult cases. The Office of Military commissions will investigate the detainees. I assume they will include the 14. They will decide who will be charged, Stimson added. Guantanamo s newest inmates, who were previously held in undisclosed locations abroad, will first go before a military panel that will review their status as enemy combatants. In the past, some media have been allowed to observe the sessions. Brigadier General Edward Leacock, the deputy commander of the joint task force that runs detention operations at Guantanamo, said the suspects were in excellent health and had not caused trouble since their arrival. They have been very compliant, he said. Currently, Guantanamo has only one court room and little room for the lawyers, paralegals and journalists that descend on the tiny military base during trials. As a result, proposal are being drawn up for a new court complex with five to 10 court rooms to handle multiple trials by special military commissions. Several sites for the complex were under consideration, Leacock said, including an airfield that is no longer in use because its runway is too short for modern aircraft. The logistics end of it is pretty significant, he said. That s one of the big things we need to address right now. What does it take to support and operate commissions the next couple of years, maybe two years?
