US Senate defeats Guantanamo trial restriction (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) –

The US Senate on Tuesday defeated a measure seen as hampering US President Barack Obama's administration plans to try suspected terrorists in civilian courts in New York.

Republican Senator James Inhofe's amendment, which was defeated in a 57-43 vote, aimed to prevent the transfer of detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay facility for suspected terrorists to US soil.

Inhofe's measure would have blocked any monies in a military construction and veterans' affairs bill from going to build or modify any US facilities to hold Guantanamo Bay detainees on a temporary or permanent basis.

Republicans have assailed the Obama administration's plans to try five alleged plotters in the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes in civilian court in New York.

The measure would have blocked the trial of the five in a civilian court as well as the transfer of those who would remain jailed indefinitely because they are deemed major security risks.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday that the five, now held at a US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be tried in a Manhattan court just a stone's throw from where the World Trade Center was destroyed September 11, 2001.

"The Senate did the right thing by voting down this amendment and made clear its support for the attorney general?s tough decision to try detainees in our federal criminal courts and to restore the rule of law," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

"The Senate today rejected fear-mongering and political grandstanding, and recognized that justice can only be served in our tried and true courts. Congress is beginning to see that the right way to keep us safe is to uphold the rule of law and comply with the Constitution," the ACLU added.

Human Rights First also voiced relief.

"Senate blockage of this amendment is a step toward putting to rest a legacy of failed detention policy and is a victory for the American people," said Elisa Massimino, Human Rights First?s president.

"The detentions at Guantanamo Bay are a blot on the reputation of the United States that harms US national security and foreign policy interests. Taking the men housed there and moving them into a court system that has an exemplary track record for convictions is the wisest course forward and one that should not be derailed by political fear-mongering," she argued.

Tom Andrews, the director of the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, argued that "the Inhofe amendment is pure Washington politics at its shameful worst.

"When a Republican president brought terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui to US soil for trial, conviction and incarceration, Senator Inhofe was investing his time and attention denying climate change and making English our official language. Now that a Democratic president is bringing other terrorist suspects to US soil for trial, conviction and incarceration, Senator Inhofe is busy doing a 180-degree turn while trying to score cheap political points with the far right," Andrews said.

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