50 Guantanamo Detainees Will Be Held Without Trial

The Obama administration has decided to hold 50 detainees without trial because it considers them too dangerous to release and too difficult to try, the New York Times reports. As the administration sorts through the remaining 200 prisoners and moves toward its goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, it has divided them into several groups. About 110 detainees will be repatriated or transferred to other facilities, another 40 will be prosecuted for terrorism, and 50 will be held without trial.

The decision comes from a task force President Obama created shortly after his inauguration to decide how to handle each detainee at Guantanamo. The group pulled together as much information as it could find about the detainees' histories and examined their files to make its determinations. The recommendations were then examined by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder is now responsible for deciding whether the 40 detainees expected to face trial will be tried in a civil or military court. He has drawn fire from conservatives for selecting a courthouse in New York City for the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.