WASHINGTON — Obama administration lawyers said Tuesday at a Senate hearing that detainees prosecuted by military commissions should have some of the same constitutional rights as U.S. citizens tried in civilian criminal courts.
Republicans on the Armed Services Committee argued that foreigners now detained on terrorism charges at the American detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, did not deserve those constitutional protections.
As the administration seeks to make good on its pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo by early next year, Congress and the Obama administration are trying to reach agreement on legislation to overhaul the military commissions. But a still-unfinished review of cases of the more than 200 inmates at the detention center has already indicated that closing the prison is far more difficult than forecast.
