Europe Agrees How to Open Door to Dozens of Guantánamo Detainees

By GottaLaff

How did this slip by me? Did you hear anything about this on the Tee Vee Machine?

European countries yesterday agreed terms for taking in dozens of detainees from Guantánamo Bay, boosting President Barack Obama's plan to close the detention camp.

After months of division over whether and how up to 60 detainees could take up residence in Europe, EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed security guidelines and a mechanism for sharing information on the detainees.

Agreement means that iIndividual EU states will now be able to accommodate detainees who have been cleared for release but cannot be repatriated for fear they will be killed, tortured or jailed. They could take in "several dozen" detainees, said Martin Pecina, the Czech interior minister, who chaired the meeting. [...]

Yesterday's deal leaves it up to individual countries to decide whether to take inmates. Those that do have to furnish all other EU governments with intelligence information on the proposed immigrant and take account of objections.

More details here.