Experts from the United Nations have urged the government of the USA to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba. They have called it an “ugly chapter of relentless human rights violations”, adding, “20 years of arbitrary detention without trial accompanied by torture or ill-treatment is unacceptable.”
🇺🇸#USA: UN experts call on the US to close #Guantanamo Bay detention centre & put an end to the ugly chapter of unrelenting human rights violations: “20 years of arbitrary detention without trial accompanied by torture or ill treatment is unacceptable.”
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) January 10, 2022
👉https://t.co/R3EhHYoUym pic.twitter.com/TT38tiktoo
In a statement, the United Nations mentioned that it is 20 years since the first batch of detainees arrived at Guantanamo Bay. The UN experts called it a “site of unparalleled notoriety” and said its continued operation was a stain on the US Government’s commitment to the rule of law.
“Twenty years of practising arbitrary detention without trial accompanied by torture or ill-treatment is simply unacceptable for any government, particularly a government which has a stated claim to protecting human rights,” said the independent experts, appointed by the Human Rights Council.
“In 2003, the facility was holding 700 prisoners. Twenty years later, 39 detainees remain but only nine of them have been charged with or convicted of crimes, 13 have been cleared for transfer. Between 2002 and 2021 nine detainees died in custody, two from natural causes and seven reportedly committed suicide. None had been charged or convicted of a crime”, the statement reads.
“Despite forceful, repeated and unequivocal condemnation of the operation of this horrific detention and prison complex with its associated trial processes, the United States continues to detain persons many of whom have never been charged with any crime,” the experts said.
The UN experts have also condemned the lack of proper medical facilities and torture rehabilitation for an ageing population of detainees. The UN experts asked the US government to close the site, return detainees home or to safe third countries while respecting the principle of non-refoulment, provide remedy and reparation for those egregiously tortured and arbitrarily detained by their agents, and hold those that authorized and engaged in torture accountable as required under international law.
It also condemned the efforts by Military Commissions that are still undergoing pre-trial proceedings on motions to suppress evidence of torture. They added that the US judicial system has so far failed to protect human rights and uphold the rule of law when it comes to Guantanamo Bay. They added that the issue of Guantanamo Bay has been made a “legal black hole”.
Guantanamo Bay detention centre
The Guantanamo Bay detention centre is a high-security prison operated by the US government to hold suspected terrorists, especially those captured from Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. It was started by the George Bush administration in 2001 and is maintained near the US Naval base on the Bay of Guantanamo in Cuba.
The US forces have been occupying the Guantanamo coast since the Spanish-American war of the early 1900s. The Cuban government condemns the continued occupation and wants the USA to vacate the area. The detention facility essentially operates outside the legal jurisdiction, and initially, the identity of the detainees was also kept a secret. The Bush administration was adamant that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the detainees of the centre.
As president, Obama had promised to shut down Gitmo, as the centre is called. But his 8-year tenure failed to close the centre. Trump had reversed the promises. Biden has also not taken any steps to shut down the facility so far.
