President Barack Obama correctly outlawed abusive interrogation, overseas prisons operated by national security officials and, hopefullyHowever, there are a number of factors that require to be addressed and acted upon, namely: to its eternal shame, the US acted against the international rights of prisoners-of-war; in prison camps, torture.

In its various forms, was used to obtain "confessions" from detainees, although it was likely that many of the tortured prisoners were innocent of any wrongdoing, therefore any further prosecution by the US authorities of these "guilty" prisoners based on such evidence was false; military tribunals dealing with these accused prisoners were almost undoubtedly biased as few.

If any, prisoners were declared innocent; which officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, authorised the use of torture against these prisoners and will they actually be investigated and possibly prosecuted for war crimes?; will President Obama now be strong enough to proceed with these inquiries and possible prosecutions?

There are a few major questions outstanding in this countdown to closure: are we to accept that the few prisoners found "guilty" are truly guilty and, if so, what will be their future? Are those who have not been tried now to be accepted as innocent? What will the US decide to do with these "untried prisoners".

When Guantanamo is closed: should they now be accepted as innocents? If the US accepts this, should they not be sent back to their homelands as free citizens, having spent years in jail, but perhaps placed under surveillance for a few years after their arrival? advertisementThese are difficult questions to address but the future acceptance of the US internationally may well depend on correct answers.