? McCain, a former POW has fought as an Arizona senator to
outlaw interrogations that might be construed as torture.

? As a senator, McCain voted NO on preserving habeus corpus
for Guantanamo detainees, an amendment that would strike the
provision regarding habeas review. The underlying bill
authored trial by military commission for violations of the
law of war.

? He strongly opposes the use of interrogation methods that
cause physical or emotional suffering. 

? McCain voted NO on requiring CIA reports on detainees &
interrogation methods. Amendment to provide for congressional
oversight of certain Central Intelligence Agency programs.

? McCain has stated that he would close the prison at
Guantanamo Bay and 'expedite judicial proceedings' for the
remaining prisoners. 

		

• Obama has always been critical of U.S. detention
policies and says too many prisoners languish in Guantanamo
without fair trials. ? As a senator, Obama voted YES on
preserving habeus corpus for Guantanamo detainees.  He stated,
"Why don't we close Guantanamo and restore the right of habeas
corpus, because that's how we lead, not with the might of our
military, but the power of our ideals and the power of our
values. It's time to show the world we're not a country that
ships prisoners in the dead of night to be tortured in far off
countries. We're not a country that runs prisons which locks
people away without ever telling them why they're there or
what they're charged with. We're not a country which preaches
compassion to others while we allow bodies to float down the
streets of major American cities. That's not who we are."

• In May 2008 while campaigning in North Carolina, Obama
said, ?We can set the highest standards around the world for
human rights and rule of law and close Guantanamo and restore
habeas corpus." 

• In May 2009 Obama announced a plan which would lead to
the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. The plan
called for terror suspects locked up in the prison to be
brought to the United States mainland where they would be
tried and prosecuted. Of the detainees who would be brought to
the country, some would be set free. The rest would be able to
exercise constitutional rights and would undergo open trials.
Nearly one year later we are no closer to closing Guantanamo
and sources say it will take another year to accomplish.   It
is still not clear where the how the detainees will be tried
or the location of the trials. 

• Obama is strongly against the idea of trying the
terror suspects in the Cuban island itself, an idea that was
favored by George Bush. Obama advisers who charted out the
plan believe that the process of bringing the suspects to the
mainland might be complicated and may invite controversies but
that is not a task that cannot be accomplished. Obama advisers
are of the notion that the detainees can be guarded as well in
the US as anywhere else. 

• Obama's plan proposes a novel court system which will
be a sort of military commissions dispensing justice. A
committee will be set up to decide the workings of the court.
The detainees who will be released will be sent back to the
countries from where they were captured for further
proceedings if any. Others may be prosecuted in the US
criminal courts.

• Obama argues that the Military Commissions Act of 2006
is flawed and calls for a reform of the trials from its
present format. Obama is all for "a process that adheres to
rule of law, habeas corpus, basic principles of Anglo-American
legal system, but doing it in a way that doesn't result in
releasing people who are intent on blowing us up."