The America I believe in

To the editor: The first detainees arrived at Guantánamo Bay five years ago this month. For five years these men have been held in indefinite detention, without charge or trial. We have all heard stories of torture and ill-treatment, hunger strikes and suicide attempts. And for five years, we have been assured that these detainees were captured “on the battlefield” and represent the “worst of the worst.” Yet our government’s own tribunals have determined that more than half of those detained never committed any hostile acts against America. And most were not captured on any battlefield, but were handed over to us in exchange for cash rewards. The America I believe in does not torture people, or imprison people in a hopeless legal limbo. It is time for the U.S. government to close Guantánamo and either charge and fairly try the detainees or release them. Five years of lawlessness is too long. John Prusinski Warwick