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Europe Urged to Protect Guantanamo Detainees Who Cannot Be Returned Home

Five human rights groups have called on European governments to provide
humanitarian protection to Guantanamo detainees who will not be charged
with any crime but who cannot be returned to their country of origin
for fear of torture or other human rights violations.

Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human
Rights Watch, Reprieve and the International Federation for Human
Rights urged governments to accept Guantanamo detainees into their
countries and ensure they are provided with adequate support.

WASHINGTON

Five human rights groups have called on European governments to provide
humanitarian protection to Guantanamo detainees who will not be charged
with any crime but who cannot be returned to their country of origin
for fear of torture or other human rights violations.

Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human
Rights Watch, Reprieve and the International Federation for Human
Rights urged governments to accept Guantanamo detainees into their
countries and ensure they are provided with adequate support.

The call to work with the new US administration on this important step
towards the closure of the detention facility at the US Naval Base in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was made after a two-day closed strategic
workshop in Berlin. The workshop was convened by the NGOs with other
international actors active on the issue of humanitarian protection.

Around 50 of the detainees currently held in Guantanamo, who the US
government has said it does not intend to charge, cannot lawfully be
sent back to their countries of origin because they could face torture
and other ill-treatment. They come from countries including China,
Libya, Russia, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan.

A joint statement by the human right groups highlighted the
"primary and ongoing legal responsibility held by the USA to find
solutions for these individuals after years of unlawful detention,
including providing them with a safe place to live and receive
rehabilitation,"

"Everyone appears to rightly agree that Guantanamo must be closed, and
President-elect Obama has said that he will close it," said Daniel
Gorevan, Counter Terror with Justice Campaign Manager at Amnesty
International. "Clearly, other governments can help make this happen by
offering protection to individuals who cannot be released to their own
countries. This would have a double effect: helping to end the ordeal
of an individual unlawfully held in violation of his human rights, and
helping end the international human rights scandal that is Guantanamo."

"This is a key opportunity for both sides of the Atlantic to move
beyond the misguided acts of the 'war on terror': rendition, secret
detention, and torture," said Cori Crider, Staff Attorney at Reprieve.
"President-elect Obama says he will close Guantanamo -- the question is
when and how. One of Reprieve's clients was sent back to Tunisia,
drugged, hit, and threatened with the rape of his wife and daughter.

"Another is fighting, even now, to stay in Guantanamo because Tunisia
threatened him with 'water torture in the barrel.' The US still asserts
total authority to send him back. Europe can send a powerful message by
reaching out to Obama and providing a safe alternative for these few
people."

"President-elect Obama has committed to closing Guantanamo, but he is
going to need Europe's help," said Joanne Mariner, Terrorism and
Counterterrorism Director at Human Rights Watch. "European governments
could provide much-needed assistance by agreeing to take in some of the
detainees who cannot be sent back home."

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.