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In a recent demonstration outside the White House to demand the closure of a U.S. military prison on Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, a teenager approached a colleague to ask what the protest was about. He told her that he had never heard of the detention facility.
It has been 20 years since Guantánamo opened and four years of presidential administration, but for those born since then, its terrifying stories seem to be the plot of a more fictional horror film than reality. It is a shameful legacy that we cannot pass on to future generations.
Opened in response to the September 11 attacks, Guantánamo has detained nearly 780 Muslim men and boys. Prior to his arrest, many were abducted, disappeared and brutally tortured in US-run secret prisons or so-called “allies in the war on terror.” At Guantanamo, they were tortured, charged with very few crimes, and no one was given a fair trial. The Kafkaesque military commission set up to try them has been found to be ineffective and unfair, denying defendants impartial arbitration and access to critical evidence. Meanwhile, the families of the 9/11 victims have been waiting in vain for justice.
Amnesty International and many others around the world have been working hard to close the prison. President Joe Biden, like his predecessor President Barack Obama, has promised to close, but has not done so so far.
The Biden administration removed a detainee from the facility in July, but has yet to restore a special State Department office dedicated to the closure of the prison. In contrast, the administration recently announced plans to build a new Guantánamon court to continue the work of military commissions, which is the complete opposite of the plan to close the site.
It’s not just about closing Guantánamo. It is also responsible for violations committed within its scope. Last year, the testimonies of former detainees, including Majid Khan, Abu Zubayda and Mohamedou Ould Slahi, described the abuse of the United States abroad and “black spots” at Guantanamo. The story of Abu Zubaydah was told in a PBS documentary called Forever Prisoner, a torture against Slahi, now the best-selling author and human rights defender, portrayed in The Mauritanian, while Khan was under stress from a jury. positions, bumps, forced feeding with hot sauce using tubes on top and a sodomy garden hose.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in civil cases against Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland and Romania for complicity in torture and enforced disappearances in the context of US secret delivery and detention programs, but it has never been. significant responsibility for the United States. From those who allowed torture at the highest levels of government to those who conducted “improved interrogation techniques” illegally, no one has ever been held responsible for the crimes. This should begin with the declassification and complete release of the CIA’s report on torture by the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
Thirty-nine men remain at Guantanamo. Thirteen are still in indefinite detention, although they agreed to relocate, some more than a decade ago. Twelve have been prosecuted on military commissions, while the other 14 are living in limbo hell: they have not yet given permission for the transfer, but they have never been charged with a crime. Their situation is a relic of the main principles that have prevailed since Guantánamon was founded: cruelty and arbitrariness.
The U.S. government needs to take swift action to correct this mistake. He must undertake to resolve the case of each detainee without further delay and in accordance with international law by relocation and release. Or if there is sufficient admissible evidence to prosecute internationally reprehensible criminal offenses, this must be done by a judicial decision, before a regularly constituted federal court, without recourse to the death penalty.
Guantánamo remains an indelible stain on U.S. history, a chapter that the U.S. government must now close and never repeat. We, the President of the Way, owe it to all of us – those of us who have lived or seen the dreaded Guantánamo for years, and those who are new to the new and future generations – to close it once and for all.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial attitude of Al Jazeera.
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