Obama insists on closing down Guantanamo prison

US President Barack Obama claims he did not abandon his plan to close a special prison for those suspected of terrorism, located in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. 107 people are held there, many of whom have been imprisoned for over ten years.

Speaking Thursday at a press conference in Manila, Obama acknowledged that due to recent terrorist attacks in Paris, his plan will meet with decisive resistance from Republican legislators, many of whom have already opposed another plan - to resettle 10 thousands of Syrian refugees in the United States next year.

Thursday House of Representatives supported the billtightening the rules for accepting Syrian and Iraqi refugees, contrary to Obama’s promises to veto him.

The prison in Guantanamo was opened after the 11 attacks of September 2001 in the United States. During its existence there have been around 800 prisoners. The American president expects that the number of prisoners in Guantanamo will drop to 100 people at the beginning of 2016 year - a year before he leaves his post.

“We can keep Americans safe while closing this facility,” Obama said in Manila. “I think there's a tendency, in light of what happened in Paris, to get worked up about things that don't actually make the country safer.”

Some of Guantánamo’s suspected terrorists were brought to justice, some were issued to countrieswho agreed to accept them, and some remained in prison. The US authorities failed to bring them to justice, because their testimony was questioned in connection with the brutal interrogation methods. In addition, some US prisoners are considered too dangerous to be extradited to other countries.

The White House and the US Department of Defense for several months developed a plan for the closure of Guantanamo, but the publication of the proposal is postponed, while the authorities continue to assess the upcoming expenses.

When signing the decree on the closure of the Guantanamo prison, Barack Obama complained that this program contradicts the US position in the world and provides a powerful tool for terrorist groups to recruit new members. However, the efforts of the president were hampered by opponents of the extradition of the remaining prisoners to other countries.

"We need to work with Congress to carefully consider all the options available and all the reasons why Guantanamo Bay must be closed," Obama said Thursday.

Congress voted recently against a majority vote. transferring prisoners to high security prisons in the United States, but the White House does not exclude the possibility that Obama will take the initiative and issue a presidential decree on the transfer.

Some lawmakers, including Senator John McCain, who was captured during the Vietnam War in 1960, and who lost the presidential election in Obama in 2008, said they are ready to appeal to the court the presidential decree to close Guantanamo if Obama decides to publish bypassing the objections of Congress.

At the same time, as the Forum wrote, the United States not going to return cuba military base in Guantanamo despite Cuban Leader Requirements Raul Castro to return the base and end the economic blockade of the island.