104 | Towards the Closure of Guantanamo 252. Between July 2004 and June 2007 the CSRTs reviewed 572 detainees and determined that 534 were enemy combatants subject to continued military detention. As indicated in the section on proceedings before federal courts, the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA) of 2005 established that the D.C. Circuit Court had exclusive jurisdiction to review certain aspects of final determinations of CSRTs. As also indicated, in Boumediene the Supreme Court found that the CSRTs subjected detainees to “considerable risk of error in the tribunal’s findings of fact” and the DTA’s provision for limited review was “an inadequate substitute for habeas corpus.”305 253. Since 2009 the United States has endeavored to determine the legal status of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay by means of a review process carried out by an executive task force306 and, after the decision issued in Boumediene, the review of habeas corpus petitions by the federal courts. The Executive determined that of the 240 persons who were detained in 2009, 48 could be held indefinitely without criminal charges in light of the alleged threat they presented to U.S. national security. 254. On March 7, 2011, President Obama signed Executive Order 13567 directing the Department of Defense to establish the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process “to determine whether certain individuals detained at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba represent a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States.” 307 The PRB process is a discretionary, administrative interagency process intended to assist the Executive branch in deciding whether detainees held at Guantanamo Bay should remain in continuing detention. This process applies to those detainees designated for continued law of war detention or referred for prosecution, except for those detainees against whom charges are pending or a judgment of conviction has been entered. 308 The PRB panel consists of senior officials from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. 255. The PRB process does not address the legality of the detention, an issue that is subject to challenge before federal courts through the writ of habeas corpus. According to official information, in assessing the threat posed by each detainee under review, the Board will be given access to all relevant information in detainee disposition and any additional relevant information that has become available. The PRB may also consider diplomatic considerations or security assurances related to the detainee's potential transfer, the detainee's mental and physical health, and 305 306 307 308 Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008) at 56, 63-64. Final Report of the Guantanamo Review Task Force, January 22, 2010. Available at: http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ag/legacy/2010/06/02/guantanamo-review-final-report.pdf For more information on the PRB, visit the Periodic Review Secretariat website at www.prs.mil. Executive Order 13567, Periodic Review of Individuals Detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station Pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force, March 7, 2011, Section 1(a). Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/07/executive-order-periodic-review-individualsdetained-guant-namo-bay-nava Organization of American States | OAS