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Leaders in Europe have welcomed President Obama's decision to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, but now comes the hard part. They're being asked to offer asylum to some of those inmates. They've got to go somewhere.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will likely raise the issue again when she meets her European colleagues in Brussels today. As NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, it's going to be a tough sell.
SYLVIA POGGIOLI: A debate is underway in Europe on giving asylum to some of the 245 detainees now said to be at Guantanamo prison. If returned to their homelands, they could face prison or torture. These are some of Europe's dilemmas.
How will inmates be screened? Which country will take them? Under what conditions?
Mr. SIMON KOSCHUT (German Council for Foreign Relations): The Europeans, they are actually fighting over the right solution of what to do. I mean, it seems like they're playing the rabbit sitting in front of the snake, waiting what to happen next.
POGGIOLI: Simon Koschut of the German Council for Foreign Relations says the limited number of internal borders means there would have to be a general agreement.
Mr. KOSCHUT: Any inmate that would come to a European country could travel from one country to another without being controlled by visa regulations. So we have to find a common European position.
POGGIOLI: That's the rub: Spain, Portugal, France and Italy are willing to take some detainees. Britain says it has done its part by taking in 14. And in Germany, in this election year, politicians are divided. Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is reluctant, while the Social Democrats are more flexible.
A high-level EU delegation will go to Washington soon, seeking more detailed information from U.S. officials. Koschut says the Europeans will want the U.S. to open up all detainee files.
Mr. KOSCHUT: The Americans will have to explain what kind of risks these people pose, why they can't be allowed to enter the U.S., why they have to go to Europe, why they can't be sent back to their home countries. And the other thing is that the U.S. has to sort of give a - well, not a guarantee, but almost guarantee that these people do not pose a threat anymore.
POGGIOLI: Other questions nagging the Europeans are who pays for resettlement and the detainees' medical care? Should some of them be prosecuted or imprisoned?
Italy has already informed Washington that it is willing to take some inmates, but only after careful vetting. The country's leading anti-terrorism magistrate, Armando Spataro, has already singled out some inmates.
Mr. ARMANDO SPATARO (Anti-terrorism Magistrate, Italy): (Through translator) We know of at least three Guantanamo detainees who have arrest warrants pending here. I believe the United States could simply extradite them to Italy, where they would be tried in our courts.
POGGIOLI: Resettlement of former inmates raises other questions. Should their freedom of movement should be curtailed? Should they be put under surveillance?
Tomas Valasek of the London-based Center for European Reform says these are serious civil liberties issues.
Mr. TOMAS VALASEK (Center for European Reform): If a prisoner has been absolved of a crime, what right do the governments have to keep monitoring him? I mean, is this not in some ways a softer form of what the U.S. did in Guantanamo - in other words, a perpetual banishment of sorts without due trial?
POGGIOLI: Human-rights organizations say Europe has a moral duty to offer asylum to Guantanamo detainees because, they claim, some governments bear responsibility by having allegedly helping transport some suspects to the U.S. prison. But Valasek says that in the minds of the public, anyone detained at Guantanamo is seen as a potential terrorist.
Mr. VALASEK: There is political reluctance to take prisoners, whether they're safe or not. It is not a particularly popular issue in terms of domestic politics. European publics will be reluctant to take someone who has even cast a shadow of suspicion.
POGGIOLI: For years, European governments harshly criticized the existence of Guantanamo. Its closure now poses new challenges for America's allies in the realms of international law, security and domestic politics. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News.
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