Obama´s orders to close Guantanamo prison receive welcome

At Obama's request, military judges in Guantanamo agreed on Wednesday to suspend trials of terrorist suspects for 120 days to allow review to be conducted.

It was considered the first step for Obama's administration to finally close the facility, which was open after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Apart from the centerpiece of the closure of the prison within a year, Obama's orders also authorized other actions including creation of a task force to recommend policies on handling terror suspects who are detained in the future; requirement to all U.S. personnel to follow the U.S. Army Field Manual that explicitly prohibits threats, coercion, physical abuse, water boarding, and other harsh interrogation techniques.

"We believe that the Army Field Manual reflects the best judgment of our military, that we can abide by a rule that says we don't torture, but that we can still effectively obtain the intelligence that we need," Obama said.

His orders required the Central Intelligence Agency to close all its existing detention facilities abroad for terror suspects for good.

About 245 detainees were still held at the Guantanamo prison out of some 800 who have been sent there so far. Most of them have been detained for years without being charged with a crime.

The controversial facility has drawn a lot of criticism against the U.S. government by human right activists and other governments since detainees were suspected of being tortured and deprived of their due legal rights.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei