OSCE/ODIHR Director reiterates need for swift closure of Guantanamo Bay detention facility

WARSAW, 11 January 2017 – On the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), reiterated the need for the United States to proceed with the closure of the facility without further delay.

“Indefinite detention without charge or trial and a lack of accountability for abuses, including acts of torture and other ill-treatment at the Guanntanamo detention facility and as part of the CIA rendition programme, run directly counter to the United States commitments as an OSCE participating State and to other international human rights obligations,” Director Link said. “Detention without effective recourse to justice and protection against abuse has no place in a democratic society based on the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The Guantanamo Bay facility was opened on 11 January 2002, and a total of 780 detainees have been held there, the vast majority without charge or trial. Despite the expressed commitment made by President Barack Obama in 2009 to close the detention facility, progress towards this end has been slow. At the beginning of this year, 59 men were still held in Guantanamo, although transfers to other countries of those cleared for release have been continued in January.

“The latest releases, organized under the current administration, have brought us closer to the complete closure of the facility, and I hope the incoming administration will recognize the fundamental importance of strictly adhering to international human rights standards in countering terrorism,” the ODIHR Director said. “Doing otherwise can only hurt the credibility and effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts and, therefore, ultimately undermine security.”

In November 2015, ODIHR issued a report on the Human rights Situation of Detainees in Guantanamo, which identified a number of serious violations in connection with the operation of the facility and the treatment of detainees. In addition to past calls for the facility’s closure, ODIHR has also called for a full investigation of these violations – including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees – and for the prosecution of those responsible.