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Amnesty International Urges Biden to Close Guantanamo on 21st Anniversary of Camp

In this Aug. 29, 2021, file photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, a flag flies at half-staff in honor of the U.S. service members and other victims killed in the terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, as seen from Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.In this Aug. 29, 2021, file photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, a flag flies at half-staff in honor of the U.S. service members and other victims killed in the terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, as seen from Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. - Sputnik International, 1920, 10.01.2023InternationalIndiaAfricaWASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Amnesty International on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison and thereby finally address this “indelible stain” on the United States’ history following 21 years of violations at the camp. “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.” Guevara-Rosas stressed that most of Guantanamo inmates have never even been charged. “None has had a fair trial. Many of the detainees were tortured,” Guevara-Rosas said. “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.” The Biden administration must transfer all remaining uncharged detainees to countries where they will be safe and their human rights will be respected, she argued. The Guantanamo Bay detention facility opened on January 11, 2002 to house inmates from the United States’ “war on terror.” In 2009, then-US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the notorious prison, but Congress refused to finance the closure. In this photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, the sun sets behind the closed Camp X-Ray detention facility, Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. - Sputnik International, 1920, 31.10.2022AmericasWhite House Reportedly Weighs Holding Future Haitian Migrants at Guantanamo Facility31 October 2022, 03:59 GMTObama’s successor, Donald Trump, suspended his executive order, though no new inmates were brought to Gitmo. The Biden administration also pledged to close down the detention facility but has not set a deadline. In December, President Joe Biden after signing the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) said that he is concerned about some of its provisions, including a prohibition on the use of Defense Department funds to transfer prisoners out of Guantanamo Bay. These provisions unduly impair the government’s ability to determine when and where to prosecute Guantanamo Bay detainees and where to send them upon release, Biden said.

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