Human rights defenders marked 22 years since the opening of the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba with renewed calls for President Joe Biden to fulfill his stated intention to close the notorious torture camp, where 30 men—16 of them cleared for release—remain behind bars.
Like most of the roughly 750 prisoners released from Guantánamo, the majority of remaining detainees have never been charged with any crime. Only one—Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul, a Yemeni national—has ever been convicted of terrorism-related charges under the highly controversial military commission regime established by the George W. Bush administration in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
“It is outrageous that 22 years after the U.S. government opened the Guantánamo detention camp to detain Muslim men beyond the reach of U.S. law, that this abuse of human rights continues today,” Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security with Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.
If the last time you were free was 2002, the world looked like this…
After 22 years, the US government must finally live up to its promises and close the Guantanamo prison for good. Tell @potus to right this wrong.
Sign the petition >>> https://t.co/t34dhzC4qJ pic.twitter.com/gph6aR2ln8
— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) January 11, 2024
Four American presidents have failed to close Gitmo, whose detainees ranged in age from 13 to 74 and which is viewed globally as a symbol of the indefinite detention and torture that took place earlier during the ongoing U.S.-led War on Terror. Former President Barack Obama—under whom Biden served as vice president—issued executive orders immediately after taking office in 2009 that were meant to end torture and close Gitmo. However, Obama was blocked by Congress from proceeding with his plan to close the prison, frustrating his campaign promise. Obama was also accused of breaking the law by actively shielding Bush-era officials from facing justice for their roles in torture at Gitmo and other military prisons and CIA so-called “black sites.”
Shortly after Biden took office, the White House signaled it wanted to close Guantánamo. However, despite releasing 10 detainees, the administration has taken few steps toward achieving that goal and has spent millions of dollars expanding the facility by building a courtroom where prisoners are meant to be tried in secret.
However, the military commissions—which former lead prosecutor Col. Morris Davis called “rigged from the start”—have been stymied by the torture endured by defendants at the hands of military and CIA operatives. Military judges have barred Guantánamo detainees or evidence in terrorism cases from the courtroom due to torture.
This has been a major impediment to bringing terrorism suspects to justice. For example, Col. Stuart Crouch, a Guantánamo prosecutor whose Marine Corps buddy was a pilot on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11, refused to prosecute Mohamedou Ould Slahi—who allegedly helped organize the plane’s hijacking—because Ould Slahi was tortured.
#Guantanamo22#CloseGuntanamoNow
Today, 2002, the sun-scorched tarmac of Guantanamo welcomed 20 prisoners, shackled, hooded, and silenced—a sinister prelude to what became the US's most infamous, extra-judicial prison. 22 years later, it stands as a living testament to humanity's… pic.twitter.com/rjKuHtZoGV— Mansoor Adayfi 441 منصور الضيفي (@MansoorAdayfi) January 11, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGMjEdcS80