USA: UN Special Rapporteur’s findings reinforce urgent need to close Guantánamo

Scathing report reviews indefinite detention and human rights violations against 780 Muslim men and boys

The report is the first time a UN Rapporteur has been allowed to conduct an in-depth visit

Urgent need for President Biden to close Guantánamo Bay

‘Very few of these men have ever been charged with a crime, and absolutely none has faced a fair trial’ - Agnès Callamard

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

“Very few of these men have ever been charged with a crime, and absolutely none has 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 11 September attacks, have been a complete failure through which the US government has intentionally skirted US and international law and abused the rights of those still imprisoned at the facility, jeopardising the rights of survivors and families of victims of the 11 September attacks to receive justice. 

“Amnesty 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.”