Guantanamo Bay Prison Case

Obama made his personal and political goal to scale down ultimately close the Guantanamo Bay prison before his term is over in early 2017. During his presidency thus far, the number of detainees decreased from 238 to 91. Approximately 10 are on trial in military commissions and 35 are cleared for and pending their release to other countries (The Washington Post). The Executive Order – Closure of Guantanamo Detention Facilities was released on February 23, 2016 by President Obama. There are four main constituents in the White House Plan (1) to Transfer 35 detainees to foreign countries (2) do periodic reviews of remaining detainees to see if their detention is still necessary (3) continue to use legal tools to deal with remaining detainees
The potential closure of Guantanamo Bay Prison proposes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the United States. It will impact the promotion of its foreign policy and national security on a domestic and international level as well. Strengths The US Government has lots of tools that they can utilize to promote the closure of Guantanamo Bay. For instance, economic tools like closing the prison will save up to $180 million a year, rather than costing taxpayers $445 million annually to run the prison (BBC). This money will be used elsewhere to support the economy, foreign and or domestic aid, and combatting terrorism. With support from the UN, given that the prisoners are given a fair trial, the US Government has necessary diplomatic tools to push forward with the prison closure (The United Nations).
Quid pro quo could take place between the United States and other countries, benefiting both states. The United States can clean the stain off its record and continue to uphold the highest standard for the rule of law without questioning, according to President Obama (BBC); allies will stop questioning the continued purpose of Guantanamo and its contradiction to US values. There will be more regulation and security over the prisoners if they are on US soil. The prisoners will have the human rights that they are entitled to, as stated under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (The United Nations). Lastly, the US government will have the legal right to detain these prisoners during and after their