OSCE/ODIHR Director Link joins with UN officials in calling for closure of detention facility at Guantanamo

WARSAW, 11 January 2016 – In an open letter published today, marking 14 years since the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), joined with four UN independent human rights experts in calling on the United States government to close the facility and hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations against detainees, both present and past.

“As the Guantanamo facility enters another year of operation, while we welcome again the intentions of United States President Barack Obama’s administration to develop a plan for its closure, the need for decisive action remains,” the ODIHR Director said. “Our Office continues to call on the United States government either to charge the detainees and ensure they receive fair trials, or to set them free.”

The letter ─ signed by ODIHR Director Link; Juan E. Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture; Ben Emmerson, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism; Mónica Pinto, UN Special Rapporteur on independence of the judiciary; and Seong-Phil Hong, the Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention – states that the Guantanamo detainees have suffered years of arbitrary detention without trial, having been placed outside of the rule of law and the reach of U.S. regular courts.  It also notes that no one has been held accountable for the violations of the human rights of the detainees, nor have they had any access to remedy or compensation.

The authors note that President Obama issued an executive order calling for the closure of the detention facility in January 2009. That same month, the letter states, President Obama prohibited the use of torture in any circumstances, a prohibition subsequently reaffirmed by the U.S. Congress. While welcoming these measures, the letter states that the measures fail to fully implement all of the international human rights and international humanitarian law obligations of the U.S.

“The respect for human rights is a necessary component of any effective counter-terrorism strategy,” Director Link said. “As the United States and the rest of the world are confronted with ongoing threats of further terror attacks and acts of violent extremism, it is clear that arbitrary detention and lack of accountability for the mistreatment of current and former Guantanamo detainees continue to undermine the moral authority with which terrorism must be fought.”

On 10 November 2015, ODIHR issued a report on the Human Rights Situation of Detainees at Guantanamo, which examines a broad range of human rights issues, identifies violations of OSCE commitments and other international human rights standards, and offers recommendations to address them.  The report also called on the US to close the detention facility and to either bring the remaining detainees to trial or free them and for a full investigation of past human rights violations and the prosecution of those responsible, as a way of strengthening the country’s counter-terrorism efforts.

For the full text of the open letter see: https://www.osce.org/odihr/215276