Human Rights Organizations Call on Congress: Do Not Send Cubans Fleeing Impacts of the U.S. Fuel Blockade to Guantánamo

Eighty-six organizations that work on migrant rights, human rights, and humanitarian aid sent a letter to Congress today as the U.S. military threatens to detain Cubans in Guantánamo should they begin fleeing deteriorating conditions in their country — conditions caused by the United States’ sanctions and fuel blockade. The authors call on Congress to bring an end to the sanctions, the fuel embargo, and the funding of Guantánamo so that it is never again used for mass detentions and ultimately closes forever. “Guantánamo should be a relic of the past,” they write.

Signers include the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Victims of Torture, the International Refugee Assistance Project, Refugees International, American Friends Service Committee, Defending Rights and Dissent, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, the Latin American Working Group, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Church World Service, among others in response to remarks on March 19 by SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan that, in the event of mass migration from Cuba, SOUTHCOM would “set up a camp to deal with migrants” at the US Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay.

With the current de facto US oil blockade against Cuba, and the worsening humanitarian crisis on the island, such a mass migration appears increasingly likely. The organizations signing the letter express concern that “Given the well-documented history of abusive and unlawful detention at Guantánamo, any proposal to use the base for additional detention is deeply troubling and unacceptable.”

The groups addressed their letter to Congress because “Congress has the power to stop use of the Naval base for any form of detention–and must take steps to prevent funding for detention operations and close Guantánamo for good.”

The letter goes on to describe the history of abuse and mistreatment at Guantánamo’s Migrant Operations Center, particularly during the 1990s when many Haitian refugees were held there following the 1991 CIA-backed coup d’etat against Haiti’s democratically elected government. The letter cites inadequate medical care and poor health and safety conditions as other reasons for concern.

Experts comment:

“Time and again, we have seen the U.S. government try to use Guantánamo as a legal black hole to mistreat migrants, subjecting them to inhumane conditions and interfering with both their right to seek protection in the United States and their right to counsel. IRAP opposes any effort to continue detention at Guantánamo.” — Pedro Sepulveda, International Refugee Assistance Project Litigation Fellow

“The continued use of Guantánamo Bay, which has an extensive history of abuse and torture, is horrific and unconscionable. By disappearing people at Guantánamo, the administration puts people’s lives at risk, obscures transparency, denies people due process, and subjects them to brutal conditions, at times indefinitely. We demand the permanent closure of Guantánamo and denounce any continued expansion of the facility and the deadly immigration detention system that is already operating at an unprecedented scope and scale at a cost to American taxpayers.” — Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network

“The ongoing threat of using the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay to detain migrants would extend one of the most troubling chapters in our nation’s history, in which legal gray zones deny people their basic rights. Guantánamo still illegally houses detainees. Expanding its use to hold migrants would further entrench a system designed to evade due process and accountability. Proposals to establish a migrant camp at GITMO in response to potential migration from Cuba reflect a dangerous willingness to sidestep the rule of law. Congress must act to block funding for such detention, shut down Guantánamo once and for all, and address the root causes of migration, including harmful sanctions policies that destabilize entire populations.” — Robert S. McCaw, Council on American-Islamic Relations Government Affairs Department Director

“If the Trump administration is worried about Cuban migration, the solution is simple: stop intentionally impoverishing the Cuban people through an embargo and fuel blockade.” — Michael Galant, Senior Research and Outreach Associate, Center for Economic and Policy Research

“The president has held Guantánamo detention as a threat over the heads of migrants in the United States and now threatens the same over Cubans who may be forced to flee their homes as a result of his own actions. The United States cannot continue to leverage Guantánamo’s legacy of torture and inhumane treatment to intimidate people seeking safety.” — Yumna Rizvi, Center for Victims of Torture Senior Policy Analyst