SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A rally in front of the White House to demand the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison on January 11, 2016. (Photo: Getty)
After 17 'Shameful' Years of Guantanamo Prison, Rights Group Demand 'Stain' on Nation's History Be Shuttered
"While the prison should have been relegated long ago as an appalling chapter in U.S. history, Guantánamo continues to operate 17 years later as a symbol of Islamophobia that embodies the fear-mongering and xenophobia that defines Trump's presidency."
Jan 09, 2019
On the eve of the 17th anniversary of Guantanamo Bay's opening, human rights advocates made yet another call Thursday for the prison to be closed and the dozens of prisoners held there to be transferred--calling attention back to an institution that has long since faded from American headlines.
Guantanamo Bay's continued operation and its place in the so-called "War on Terror," started by the George W. Bush administration and maintained by both the Obama and Trump administrations, has been a "stain" on the United States' human rights record, said Amnesty International.
"While the prison should have been relegated long ago as an appalling chapter in U.S. history, Guantanamo continues to operate 17 years later as a symbol of Islamophobia that embodies the fear-mongering and xenophobia that defines Trump's presidency," said Daphne Eviatar, director of security for the organization.
The group planned to join other human rights organizations including Win Without War and Witness Against Torture in a demonstration in Washington, D.C. at 2:30pm EST on Friday to call for the prison to be shut down and for the 40 men who are being held there to be immediately released or given fair trials.
Many of the detainees have been tortured, and five of them have already been recommended for transfer--including Yemeni national Toffiq Nassar Ahmed al Bihani, who was cleared for transfer nearly a decade ago.
Human rights groups were hopeful when President Barack Obama took office in 2009 that he would shut down the prison, following an executive order he signed on his second day in the White House. Guantanamo's population was significantly reduced during the administration, but Obama ultimately failed to close the facility. President Donald Trump thwarted any hope that progress would continue, and even authorized $200 million to expand the facility last year.
"When President Trump revoked President Obama's order to close the military prison at Guantanamo, he opened the door for a whole new era of horrific human rights violations to take place," said Eviatar.
Instead of continuing the prison's history of torture and other offenses, Eviatar continued, prisoners "who are cleared must be transferred immediately, and all other prisoners should either be charged and fairly tried or released to allow this shameful institution to close permanently."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On the eve of the 17th anniversary of Guantanamo Bay's opening, human rights advocates made yet another call Thursday for the prison to be closed and the dozens of prisoners held there to be transferred--calling attention back to an institution that has long since faded from American headlines.
Guantanamo Bay's continued operation and its place in the so-called "War on Terror," started by the George W. Bush administration and maintained by both the Obama and Trump administrations, has been a "stain" on the United States' human rights record, said Amnesty International.
"While the prison should have been relegated long ago as an appalling chapter in U.S. history, Guantanamo continues to operate 17 years later as a symbol of Islamophobia that embodies the fear-mongering and xenophobia that defines Trump's presidency," said Daphne Eviatar, director of security for the organization.
The group planned to join other human rights organizations including Win Without War and Witness Against Torture in a demonstration in Washington, D.C. at 2:30pm EST on Friday to call for the prison to be shut down and for the 40 men who are being held there to be immediately released or given fair trials.
Many of the detainees have been tortured, and five of them have already been recommended for transfer--including Yemeni national Toffiq Nassar Ahmed al Bihani, who was cleared for transfer nearly a decade ago.
Human rights groups were hopeful when President Barack Obama took office in 2009 that he would shut down the prison, following an executive order he signed on his second day in the White House. Guantanamo's population was significantly reduced during the administration, but Obama ultimately failed to close the facility. President Donald Trump thwarted any hope that progress would continue, and even authorized $200 million to expand the facility last year.
"When President Trump revoked President Obama's order to close the military prison at Guantanamo, he opened the door for a whole new era of horrific human rights violations to take place," said Eviatar.
Instead of continuing the prison's history of torture and other offenses, Eviatar continued, prisoners "who are cleared must be transferred immediately, and all other prisoners should either be charged and fairly tried or released to allow this shameful institution to close permanently."
On the eve of the 17th anniversary of Guantanamo Bay's opening, human rights advocates made yet another call Thursday for the prison to be closed and the dozens of prisoners held there to be transferred--calling attention back to an institution that has long since faded from American headlines.
Guantanamo Bay's continued operation and its place in the so-called "War on Terror," started by the George W. Bush administration and maintained by both the Obama and Trump administrations, has been a "stain" on the United States' human rights record, said Amnesty International.
"While the prison should have been relegated long ago as an appalling chapter in U.S. history, Guantanamo continues to operate 17 years later as a symbol of Islamophobia that embodies the fear-mongering and xenophobia that defines Trump's presidency," said Daphne Eviatar, director of security for the organization.
The group planned to join other human rights organizations including Win Without War and Witness Against Torture in a demonstration in Washington, D.C. at 2:30pm EST on Friday to call for the prison to be shut down and for the 40 men who are being held there to be immediately released or given fair trials.
Many of the detainees have been tortured, and five of them have already been recommended for transfer--including Yemeni national Toffiq Nassar Ahmed al Bihani, who was cleared for transfer nearly a decade ago.
Human rights groups were hopeful when President Barack Obama took office in 2009 that he would shut down the prison, following an executive order he signed on his second day in the White House. Guantanamo's population was significantly reduced during the administration, but Obama ultimately failed to close the facility. President Donald Trump thwarted any hope that progress would continue, and even authorized $200 million to expand the facility last year.
"When President Trump revoked President Obama's order to close the military prison at Guantanamo, he opened the door for a whole new era of horrific human rights violations to take place," said Eviatar.
Instead of continuing the prison's history of torture and other offenses, Eviatar continued, prisoners "who are cleared must be transferred immediately, and all other prisoners should either be charged and fairly tried or released to allow this shameful institution to close permanently."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.