SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. military on Friday said it plans to build a
$125 million compound at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base where it hopes to hold war-crimes trials for terror suspects by the middle of next year. The new
state-of-the-art facility will also usher in a sweeping revision of the way in which detainee legal rights are handled in the military prison system.
A White House spokesman outlined features of the new initiative, one strongly backed by the Bush administration. "Under the old 'one-size-fits-all' system, the various rights and freedoms were simply provided by the government. You didn't have to pay a dime for any of them, but you didn't have any choices, either."
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"The consensus view among the Joint Chiefs, the White House, and Senator Lieberman is that this blanket entitlement-based approach has been a real disservice to our clientele here, because it has restricted their freedom to discern and make informed, market-driven choices among their various options."
The new pilot program, dubbed "Habeas a la Carte", will offer a palette of legal rights at subsidized rates, which patrons at Gauntanamo, Bagram, and certain unspecified CIA facilities may tailor to fit their individual needs. Eligibility will be limited initially to enemy combatants and other non-citizen detainees, but may be extended to Americans following a one-year trial and evaluation period.
Examples of the selections and annual costs under the new plan include:
--o-- Right to Private Legal Counsel: $3000
--o-- "Waterboard" exemption: $350 per exercise
--o-- Habeas Corpus writ: $25,000 to file plus courtroom overhead.
--o-- Non-orange jumpsuit waiver: $57.50
--o-- Habitable, clean cell: $1750
--o-- Maintain temperature between 60 and 85 degrees F: $680
--o-- Taser set to "stun" only: $100 per treatment
--o-- See evidence against you/Confront accusers: $97,000 (1)
--o-- Speedy Trial: not yet offered
--o-- Burden of Proof: awarded free of charge (2)
(1) requires non-disclosure agreement
(2) non-transferable