USA: UN Special Rapporteur’s findings reinforce urgent need to close Guantánamo and provide redress for past and present detainees

In response to a report presented today by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism about the detention facility at the US Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

“The findings presented today highlight the urgent need for President Biden to finally close the detention facility at the Guantánamo Bay military base, and to end the unlawful practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial.

“The scathing report reviews more than 21 years of indefinite detention for 780 Muslim men and boys, and the myriad human rights violations against them.

It is well past time to demand the closure of the prison, accountability from US officials, and reparations for the torture and other ill-treatment that the detainees have suffered at the hands of the US government
Agnès Callamard

“Very few of these men have ever been charged with a crime, and absolutely none have faced a fair trial. It is well past time to demand the closure of the prison, accountability from US officials, and reparations for the torture and other ill-treatment that the detainees have suffered at the hands of the US government. There remains a shocking lack of access to justice for those currently or previously detained – and many have complex and untreated healthcare needs as a result of their ill-treatment.

“The military commissions created for Guantánamo Bay detainees, including those alleged to have planned or assisted the September 11 attacks, have been a complete failure through which the United States government has intentionally skirted US and international law and abused the rights of those still imprisoned at the facility – jeopardizing the rights of survivors and families of victims of the attacks to receive justice.

“Amnesty International applauds the Special Rapporteur for conducting the technical visit, and acknowledges that this is the first time a UN Rapporteur has been allowed to conduct such an in-depth visit.”