Bloomberg is reporting that a deal is in the works that will move the prisoners from Gitmo to Australia on a case-by-case basis, said a spokeswoman for acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Amanda Lampe, spokeswoman for acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard, said that the US had approached Australia and about 100 other countries in regards to resettling the detainees, but was clear to point out that each individual would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Lampe went on to say that “for anyone to be accepted, they would have to meet Australia’s strict legal requirements and go through normal rigorous assessment processes.”

This all comes on the heels of President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to shut down Gitmo when elected president. Obviously, the world view was that Gitmo would be shut down and the detainees transferred into the US judicial system where prosecutions would be continued. Sadly, it doesn’t seem that will be the case.

According to the article at Bloomberg.com, Australia joined Germany and Portugal in voicing a willingness to take some Gitmo detainees, making it easier for Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge.

David Hicks, an Australian who trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and 5 years at Gitmo, was the first so-called enemy combatant to be convicted by the US “military commission” and allowed to spend some of his prison term in his home country of Australia. Hicks was released into Australia’s population on the 21st of December.

According to reports, there are about 250 detainees at Gitmo, which the US military prosecutors categorize as:

• 80 that will be charged with war crimes
• 60 are deemed eligible for resettlement
• 100+ pose security risks too serious to be released and cannot be tried on war-crimes charges

80 will be charged with war crimes and over 100 are such serious security risks that they can never be released into public life, but the can also never be charged with war crimes.

That is over 100 people that will never see the freedom again because of the perceived “risk they pose” to society. 

Do you ever wonder if maybe, just maybe, we need to re-asses our terminology and understanding of what a terrorist really is?

Is it the person that reacts to years of injustice violently? Or is it the person that causes the years of injustice to cause the violent reaction?