OSCE/ODIHR delegation visits United States and Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility

WASHINGTON, D.C., 2 August 2013 – A delegation from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) was in Washington, D.C. this week to gather information on proceedings before military commissions involving detainees at the Guantanamo Detention Facility.

The meetings in the U.S. capital and at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, which the delegation visited on Wednesday, provided further information about the situation of the detainees and took place in preparation of potential monitoring by ODIHR of future proceedings.

During the trip to the facility in Cuba, the delegation met the commander and other senior members of the Joint Task Force Guantanamo Command, which operates the facility, and visited parts of the detention centre and the Expeditionary Legal Complex created to prosecute some of the detainees.

Over the course of the visit, which will continue into the next week, the delegation has met or plans to meet officials from the U.S Departments of Defense, Justice and State, as well as civil society representatives.

The visit comes as part of the ODIHR’s activities to assist OSCE participating States, including the United States, in meeting their commitments to respect human rights in the fight against terrorism, by safeguarding the rule of law, individual liberties and the right to equal justice under the law.