The US army has changed its execution rules and this has major consequences for those who are still being detained at Guantanamo Bay.

 

Previously military executions were authorised only to take place at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, however changes to the rules now mean that the location of execution can be set by the military if it is imposed by military courts and authorised by the president. 

 
As a direct result, it is now technically legal for executions to take place at Guantanamo Bay; Isabel Hilton interviewed Clive Stafford Smith on BBC Nightwaves last night about fighting the death penalty in the American South and being the first British lawyer in Guantanamo Bay, where he now represents more than 5oo detainees.  Read this interview here as well as the interview he gave to openDemocracy in November.