End Illegal Detentions

The illegal detention centre at Guantanamo Bay has come to symbolise the US government’s disregard for international law in its treatment of detainees in its “war on terror”. The Guantanamo detention facility has been just one part of a wider system of indefinite and secret detentions, enforced disappearance, renditions and torture and other ill-treatment.

President Obama has ordered the suspension of military trials and the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

These are positive moves and a testament to everyone who has been tirelessly campaigning on these issues for so long. However there is more that needs to be done.

We are calling on President Obama to promptly charge Guantanamo detainees with recognisable criminal offences or release them immediately. And to ensure that those detainees who are to be charged receive fair trials in US federal courts.

Role of other governments in closing Guantanamo

Around 50 of the detainees held at Guantanamo cannot lawfully be sent back to their countries of origin because they would face a real risk of torture or other serious human rights violations.

There are many countries that could offer safe alternatives to the detainees who cannot be returned to their countries:

States could offer individuals international protection by accepting them under some form of humanitarian or other immigration status;
Governments should engage with US authorities with a view to identifying solutions for the safe return of particular detainees and their resettlement in a country where they will not be tortured, executed or face other serious human rights violations.

These governments can and should take this vital step towards making the closure of Guantanamo a reality.

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