While women will no longer be barred from serving as SEALs or rangers next year, some lawmakers are worried that female troops could be prohibited from serving at Guantanamo Bay due to the religious objections of some prisoners.
A bipartisan group of more than 40 lawmakers wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week about five high value detainees who have requested that women not be assigned to jobs related to their imprisonment since any contact with women violates their religious beliefs.
“Prohibiting women from these assignments discriminates against our troops and allows the enemies of the United States to dictate the terms on which American citizens serve their country,” the letter says. “Women in uniform should not have to endure prejudice based on the convictions of enemy combatants, and male soldiers should not be forced to fill these deployments at a higher rate than necessary as a result.”
Lawmakers said the U.S. has already made “numerous” changes to accommodate the religious beliefs of detainees at the military prison in Cuba, but that compromising American principles of equality must be “unequivocally denied.”
The letter asks the secretary to detail the current policy for women serving at Gitmo and any changes to the policy that have been made since Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the decision-making behind those changes.
A military judge ordered a temporary “no touch” policy for female prison guards in January, but rescinded the order in February, according to reports.
A detainee brought his case under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which Hobby Lobby also used in its infamous Supreme Court case, but the military judge argued that the prisoner was not entitled to the protections of that act.
One of the prisoners who requested women not be involved in his detention is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al Qaeda’s chief propagandist and the lead planner behind the 9/11 attacks, the letter said.
The administration is seeking in 2016 to close the military prison before the end of Obama’s term, but is facing resistance from Congress, which passed legislation prohibiting the transfer of prisoners to the U.S. and the use of funds to build new facilities for the detainees. Under the fiscal 2016 defense policy act, the president must present a plan to Congress by the end of February with concrete estimates for how much it would cost to close the prison.
