• Mitt Romney is known for his rather 'explosive' views
against closing down Guantanamo Bay prison. 

• "You said they're at Guantanamo? I'm glad they're at
Guantanamo. I don't want them on our soil. I want them at
Guantanamo where they don't get the access to lawyers that they'd
get when they're on our soil. I don't want them in our prisons, I
want them there. Some people say that we should close Guantanamo,
my view is: ?We outta double Guantanamo."

• Not only the prison itself needs to be doubled but the
torture techniques used in the interrogation need to be
improvised. The quote goes: "we ought to make sure that the
terrorists... and there's no question but that in settling like
that where you have the ticking bomb, that the President of the
United States- not the CIA interrogator- the President of the
United States has to make the call. And Enhanced Interrogation
Techniques have to be used ? not torture, but enhanced
interrogation techniques. Yes."

• Romney feels that closing down the prison is certainly a
wrong act. In Helena, Montana, Romney while interacting with the
reporters said: "Guantanamo Bay plays an important role in
protecting our nation from violent, heinous terrorists."

• "I hope the administration does not take the course
which is being contemplated. I think Guantanamo is a symbol of
our resolve."

• The former Massachusetts governor had visited the
Guantanamo Bay in the spring of 2006. He said he "came away with
no concerns with regards to the fair and appropriate treating of
these individuals."   Romney would not hesitate to bring about
the harshest interrogation techniques in the wake of a severe
terrorist threat.
		

• 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."