Guantanamo at 23: What’s next for the ‘lawless’ detention facility?

Washington, DC – The detention installation astatine Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, turns 23 connected Saturday.

For Mansoor Adayfi, a erstwhile inmate astatine the prison, the day marks 23 years of “injustice, lawlessness, maltreatment of power, torture and indefinite detention”.

Only 15 prisoners stay astatine the United States subject prison, known arsenic Gitmo, which erstwhile held astir 800 Muslim men — a dwindling fig that gives advocates anticipation that the installation volition yet beryllium unopen down, turning the leafage connected the acheronian section of past it represents.

But Adayfi, who present serves arsenic a coordinator for the Guantanamo Project astatine the advocacy radical CAGE International, says genuinely closing down Gitmo means delivering justness to its existent and erstwhile detainees.

“The United States indispensable admit its wrongdoing, indispensable contented a formal, authoritative apology to the victims, to the survivors,” Adayfi told Al Jazeera. “There indispensable beryllium reparation, compensation and accountability.”

Guantanamo opened successful 2002 to location prisoners from the alleged “war connected terror”, a absorption to the attacks connected September 11, 2001, successful the US.

Detainees were arrested successful countries crossed the satellite connected suspicions of ties to al-Qaeda and different groups. Many endured horrific torture astatine concealed detention facilities, known arsenic achromatic sites, earlier being transferred to Guantanamo.

At Gitmo, detainees had fewer ineligible rights. Even those cleared for merchandise done Guantanamo’s alternate justness system, known arsenic subject commissions, remained imprisoned for years with nary recourse to situation their detention.

And so, the situation has go synonymous with the US government’s worst abuses successful the post-9/11 era.

In caller weeks, the medication of outgoing President Joe Biden has accelerated the transportation of inmates retired of Guantanamo, up of the extremity of his word connected January 20.

On Monday, the US authorities freed 11 Yemeni detainees and resettled them successful Oman. Last month, 2 inmates were transferred to Tunisia and Kenya.

‘Insane’

Daphne Eviatar, manager of the Security with Human Rights (SWHR) programme astatine Amnesty International USA, said closing down the installation is possible.

She said the remaining detainees could beryllium transferred to different countries oregon to the US, wherever they would spell done the American justness system.

Congress imposed a prohibition successful 2015 connected transferring Gitmo prisoners to US soil. But Eviatar believes the White House tin enactment with lawmakers to assistance the prohibition, particularly with truthful fewer prisoners near astatine the facility.

“It’s a awesome of lawlessness, of Islamophobia,” Eviatar said of Guantanamo.

“It’s a implicit usurpation of quality rights. For the United States, which has detained truthful galore radical for truthful agelong without rights, without complaint oregon trial, it is conscionable horrific. And the information that it’s ongoing today, 23 years later, is insane.”

Barack Obama made closing down the situation 1 of his apical promises erstwhile helium was moving for president successful 2008, but aft taking office, his plans faced beardown Republican opposition. Towards the extremity of his 2nd term, Obama expressed regret over failing to unopen down the installation aboriginal successful his presidency.

Of the 15 remaining Gitmo inmates, 3 are eligible for release, according to the Pentagon. Three others tin spell successful beforehand of Guantanamo’s Periodic Review Board, which assesses whether detainees are harmless to transfer.

“We’re inactive hopeful that President Biden tin transportation much detainees retired earlier helium leaves office,” Eviatar told Al Jazeera.

While President-elect Donald Trump has antecedently pledged to support the situation open, Eviatar said helium whitethorn presumption the installation arsenic inefficient.

Plea deals

But the Friends Committee connected National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker societal justness advocacy group, underscored the urgency for Biden to enactment earlier Trump takes office.

“With President-elect Trump powerfully opposed to closing Guantanamo, the request to President Biden to unopen the situation down is much urgent than ever,” Devra Baxter, a programme adjunct for militarism and quality rights astatine FCNL, said successful a statement.

“Closing Guantanamo volition lone hap done the transportation of the last 3 men who person yet to beryllium charged with a transgression and finalizing plea deals with those who have.”

However, alternatively than completing plea deals for the inmates, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has sought to nix agreements for 3 9/11 suspects, which had been reached with subject prosecutors to spare the prisoners the decease penalties, successful speech for blameworthy pleas.

Now courts are assessing the validity of the agreements and Austin’s veto against them.

Eviatar said Austin’s propulsion to scuttle the plea deals amounts to governmental interference.

“It’s a precise unusual situation. I don’t recognize wherefore the Biden administration, which says it wanted to adjacent Guantanamo, would past person the caput of defence travel successful and halt the plea agreements. It makes nary sense.”

CAGE’s Adayfi said the debacle implicit the plea agreements shows that determination is nary functioning justness strategy astatine Guantanamo.

“It’s a large joke,” helium said. “There’s nary justness in Guantanamo. There’s nary law. There is perfectly nothing. It’s it is 1 of the biggest quality rights violations successful the 21st century.”

Adayfi added that the US tin person its ideals astir freedom, ideology and quality rights oregon Guantanamo, but not both.

“I judge they person Guantanamo,” helium said.