Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Possible Gitmo transfer to Colo. spurs protest

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 24, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

Text size  

More Colorado Government

More stories »

Republican lawmakers on Friday signed petitions protesting a possible transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners to Colorado, saying the state shouldn't be a dumping ground for terrorists.

"The type of terrorists these would be, I'd be ill at ease if I lived in Florence or Canon City or Pueblo West," said Republican Sen. Ken Kester of Las Animas. "I don't think we need 200 or 300 terrorists in Colorado. They will infiltrate the other convicts that are there."

President Barack Obama announced Thursday he would close the Guantanamo Bay prison, located on an American naval base in Cuba, that has held suspected terrorists since the start of the war in Iraq.

One option to house some or all of the prisoners would be Supermax, the maximum-security federal penitentiary in Fremont County in Colorado, about 90 miles south of Denver, built to house the country's worst prisoners.

Gov. Bill Ritter said he's not asking Obama to send the 243 detainees to Colorado, but he would not oppose it.

"It is a facility designed for just that kind of prisoner. We already have really extreme terrorists who are housed there," Ritter said. "And I don't think it's appropriate for somebody like me, first of all, who has supported the president's decision to close Guantanamo Bay to say: 'Not in my backyard.' "

Though Supermax's inmates have included Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and the terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, many GOP legislators say prisoners now in Gitmo are an entirely different concern.

They are enemy combatants who could pose a threat to national security and are therefore better suited for a Department of Defense detention facility.

By the time legislators began leaving the Capitol for the weekend, most Republicans had signed the petition, as had three Democratic senators: Jim Isgar, of Hesperus; Abel Tapia, of Pueblo; and Paula Sandoval, of Denver.

Rep. Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican who is circulating the petition with Kester, said he hopes to hold hearings on the matter. But Ritter said it is far too soon to take such defensive action, especially because the relocation process is expected to last 12 to 18 months.

House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, called the petition effort "political grand- standing." Gitmo prisoners pose no greater threat to the communities surrounding the prisons than the ones who already are there, he said.

Gardner remarked: "I'm shocked some Democrats are standing for bringing terrorists into Colorado."

Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D- Pueblo West, argued Supermax has been understaffed for years by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and doesn't even have a fence around it. She would prefer the Obama administration send the prisoners to a military facility like Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, she said.

"Florence should be an option evaluated after we exhaust military options," said McFadyen, whose district includes the prison.

Kansas Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback both said they don't want them at Leavenworth.

Several members of Colorado's congressional delegation also came out against moving the detainees here.

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R- Aurora, criticized Ritter for encouraging Obama to close the facility. He thinks it should be kept open.

What they're saying

Lawmakers weighed in on the possibility that Gitmo detainees may move to Supermax:

"It would be important for us to talk to all the local officials. . . to see what their reaction is. Frankly, I think the federal prisons are pretty safe. I think we have to look at what it means for Colorado."

U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-San Luis Valley

"The governor is wrong to encourage the president to . . . close the Guantanamo facility by welcoming the detainees to be incarcerated in Colorado. Guantanamo needs to stay open, not only to protect Americans here at home, but to protect our soldiers and Marines serving in harm's way."

U.S. Rep Mike Coffman, R-Colo.

"I'd rather they go to Fort Leavenworth because they are military detainees."

U.S. Rep. Perlmutter, D-Golden

"I don't think we should rule anything out. I think we should look at all alternatives. The truth is we need to find a place for these people who would harm our country."

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder

Comments

  • January 24, 2009

    6:47 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    VeryOpinionated writes:

    I think Rep. Perlmutter's suggestion makes the most sense.

    I think Gov. Ritter was just trying to get "brownie points" with Pres. Obama, and not considering what is in the best interests of Colorado. I guess they call that "playing politics."

  • January 24, 2009

    10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Joe_Dozer writes:

    I think that since Colorado has been "Californicated" into electing the likes of Obama and Salazar, they definitely should have some "skin in the game" and should stop whining about it and take in these silly Gitmo Goofballs. Come on Colorado, show some pioneering spirit, show some guts!

  • January 24, 2009

    4:57 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Analyst writes:

    These detainees are not necessarily guilty of anything. Some were turned in because of blood fueds. Some were turned in for the considerable bounty money. Some were picked up by mistake. They have been deprived of counsel, of the right to confront accusers, to see evidence against themselves.

    On U.S. soil, they should get fair trials. If there's no evidence against them, they should be sent home. McFadyen is right. In eight years of Bush, the Florence Supermax has been turned into an understaffed dumping ground. This shouldn't be considered for detainees unless and until it could be proven that they are actually terrorists.

    Meanwhile the GWHB and GWB administrations each let convicted terrorists go and they now live in this country. Look up Dr. Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carilles, the guys who blew up a packed airliner.

  • January 24, 2009

    10:54 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    r0ckyAurora writes:

    Rep. Polis doesn't "think we should rule anything out". One option was just ruled out by the President; what does he think of that?

  • January 25, 2009

    6:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    angka writes:

    I think we have to come up with an alternative for Gitmo that conforms with international law, that Supermax could be such an alternative, and that these Republicans, who normally respond to virtually everything with chest-thumping bravado, are a bunch of opportunistic cowards.

    Buffie McFadyen want stop make sure there's funding and I respect that. Cory Gardner is making an incredible, unbelievably childish jerk of himself just to disagree with Ritter on something--kiss CD-4 goodbye!

  • January 25, 2009

    11:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    redwhiteandBLUE writes:

    Send them to Florence Federal prison where Sablan is. He's they guy that cut the liver out of his celly and held it up for all to see.
    Sablan will keep those terrorists in check. He ain't scared of no terrorists ! LOL!

  • January 26, 2009

    1:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bmenezes writes:

    "They are enemy combatants who could pose a threat to national security and are therefore better suited for a Department of Defense detention facility."

    According to who? This statement was not attributed to anyone in the article. Is this the conclusion the Rocky newsroom has reached on its own, in defiance of the fact that some of these people haven't even gone to military trial yet? Has the Rocky already decided that they are in fact enemy combatants, and not people who in a trial will be found not guilty?