Amnesty International calls on Biden to close Guantanamo camp

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Jan 2023 20:50
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Tomorrow will mark the 21rst anniversary since the Guantanamo bay prison opened to detain inmates of the US' so-called "war on terror."

Entrance of Guantanamo Bay prison. John Moore/Getty Images

America's director at Amnesty International, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Biden administration must take action to shut down once and for all the Guantanamo Bay prison which has been operating for the past 21 years as a camp to house inmates from the United States' so-called "war on terror" - the war which enabled the US to carry out war crimes of massive proportions across several countries in the Arab and Muslim region.

"It’s tragic that 21 years after the opening of an offshore detention facility specifically designed to evade the rule of law, the US government continues to detain 35 men at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp," Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

"Guantánamo remains an indelible stain on the United States’ history. More than two decades after its opening, President Biden must finally close this chapter and ensure it is never repeated." she added.

“#Guantánamo remains an indelible stain on the United States’ history. More than two decades after its opening, President @JoeBiden must finally close this chapter and ensure it is never repeated,” said @ErikaGuevaraR https://t.co/5o7iXu7HTk
— amnestypress (@amnestypress) January 10, 2023

She further noted that none of the inmates had a fair trial, that many were tortured, and that "the military commissions created to try some of the detainees have proven ineffectual and unfair, denying defendants an impartial arbiter and access to critical evidence. This has also denied victims of the 9/11 attacks their right to justice."

Guevara-Rosas stressed that US President Joe Biden must release all detainees and send them back to their home countries where they will be safe and their basic human rights respected.

Tomorrow will mark the 21st anniversary since the Guantanamo bay prison opened to detain inmates of the US' so-called "war on terror."

In 2009, former President Barack Obama signed an executive order to try to get the prison to close down, but Congress later rejected the bid for financial reasons.

Donald Trump then suspended the executive order in 2018 but the prison welcomed no new detainees during his mandate.

Biden reportedly vowed to shut down the detention facility but it has not specified exactly when he will do so.

After he signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Biden expressed concern over some of the provisions which happen to include a prohibition on the use of the Pentagon's funds to transport detainees out of Guantanamo Bay.

They also impair the government's capacity to determine where and when detainees will be prosecuted and where to transfer them upon their release, according to Biden.

Biden has already been in office for the last two years, and it is clear by now that he has no intention of closing down the prison.