Burchett / 5 Senator Xu

S.W._____

A BILL
To close Guantanamo Bay Prison and move the detainees to a top-security prison in America. With this move, the
detainees will then be automatically given the rights that allow them to a fair trial, and stop them from being tortured.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Xu Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) In December 2005, Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act, which prevents all alien detainees held at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from petitioning US federal courts for writs of habeas corpus
2) They are not in US territory but on a military base on the island of Cuba, and they are not considered to be
tortured because their organs are not failing.
3) The most recent human rights violation at Guantnamo was the force-feeding of competent detainees on a hunger
strike, which constitutes a violation of the absolute prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading
treatment.
4) Forty -six detainees, who are being held indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay, are being held there despite that in
Boumediene v. Bush, the United States Supreme Court decided that Guantnamo detainees had the right to petition
habeas corpus under the U.S. Constitution.
5) According to Colin Powell, If it was up to me, I would close Guantnamo...The concern was, well then they'll
have access to lawyers, then they'll have access to writs of habeas corpus. So what? Let them. Isn't that what our
system is all about?
6) More than half of the individuals remaining at Guantanamo have been cleared for transfer, but the president has
failed to act to release them.died in custody. Yasser Talal Ali Zahrani is the youngest detainee to die, at 21 years old.
He was captured at age 16 and spent the rest of his young life in Guantanamo.
7) Describing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba as an Alice in Wonderland place where detainees are deprived
of their civil, human and legal rights, Boston attorney Stephen Oleskey was harshly critical of the Bush and Obama
administrations, as well as of Congress, for routinely flouting the rule of law.
8) Senator Richard Durbin compared the American soldiers in Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or
some mad regime that had no concern for human beings.
9) As one author put it, the detention facility at Guantnamo Baywas created to put the detainees beyond the rule of
law, beyond the protection of any courts,and at the mercy of the victors.
10) Senator Richard Durbin compared the American soldiers in Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviets in their gulags,
or some mad regime that had no concern for human beings.
11) The detainees are not in US territory but on a military base on the island of Cuba, and they are not considered to
be tortured because their organs are not failing.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) All detainees within Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp are all allowed their rights stated in the Fifth, Sixth, and
Eighth Amendments. Detainees found guilty shall henceforth be sent to ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado and
Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp shall be closed once all detainees are gone. The detainees shall begin trials once
this law goes into effect. By July 1, 2016, all detainees shall have their trials be finished and within one week, they
shall either be sent to ADX Florence or set free.
B) This law shall be enforced and upheld by the Department of Justice. Funding for the transportation of the
detainees and any additional needs will come directly from the budget already allotted by Congress for the
Department of Justice.
C) This law shall go into effect January 1, 2016.