America should close Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a detention facility of the United States of America that is located on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, on the coast of Guantanamo Bay in southeastern Cuba.

The camp was opened in 2002 by the US government during the George W. Bush administration in its ‘Global War on Terror’. It holds the so-called ‘most dangerous people in the world’.

Detainees in the camp include suspected members of Al-Qaeda terrorist group, fighters from Taliban and terror suspects from various countries.

When he was the president of US, Barack Obama, a Democrat, attempted to close the camp but bipartisan politics blocked his wish. This was due to opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, who were of the position that housing the detainees on U.S. soil would be a threat to national security.

During the Obama Administration, detainees at the camp reduced from 245 to 41.However, outgoing President Donald Trump opened it indefinitely.

During the Trump Administration, one detainee was transferred to Saudi Arabia’s custody. Human rights activists hope that the incoming President Joe Biden’s administration will fulfill the 2008 Obama-Biden promise. Then, Mr Biden was Obama’s vice-president to close the prison.

There have been allegations of violations of the rights of the detainees under the Geneva Conventions. These include torture and abusive treatment of the detainees by the US authorities. In 2009, Washington admitted to the torture of one Mohammed al-Qahtani.

The prisoners are detained at the facility with no formal charge or any means to challenge their detention without trial there. The UN independent human rights activists have referred to the camp as a place of arbitrariness and abuse, a site of torture and ill-treatment and where the rule of law is effectively suspended and justice denied.

Detention without trial is not allowed. This is because it is against the principle of natural justice for fair hearing and due process. The torture and abusive treatment that the detainees allegedly undergo at the camp is pure violation of human rights that should be condemned by all. It is against international law and the US Constitution.

The US prides itself as a great human rights defender. It should not entertain these human rights violations and injustices, if at all they occur. It should close the prison immediately and either release the 40 remaining detainees to their home countries or find a way to try them in the shortest time possible.

It is illegal anywhere to indefinitely detain one without trial.

Mutinda Muthembwa, advocate, Machakos