Guantanamo Bay 10 years on: Human rights gone wrong
BY ALEX NEVEObama should show leadership and recommit to his earlier promise to close the prison, and Harper should call on him to stick with that promise. There can be no second decade.
Last week marked an ignominious anniversary—ten years of injustice at Guantanamo Bay. It defies belief, but one decade on, that global icon of human rights gone so terribly wrong in the 'war on terror' is still in business.
To say that the incalculable human cost, the mountainous financial cost and the debilitating cost to the integrity of universal human rights protection have all been staggering would be woefully inadequate. Equally disconcerting is that there is no end to the whole sorry debacle anywhere on the horizon.
The first prisoners began to arrive on Jan. 11, 2002. At least 12 of that original group remain there today. Since that time, 779 prisoners have been held at Guantanamo.
The overwhelming majority were eventually released—usually after years of being held illegally without charge or trial, suffering torture or ill-treatment, and being cut off from the outside world.
They had been described by various United States officials as being among the world’s most dangerous men; but most were set free with very little fanfare. With each release it has become clearer that Guantanamo's overwhelming legacy is not one of reducing insecurity but deepening injustice.
The numbers say so much. Of the 779 prisoners held at Guantanamo during the past decade, only six individuals have been convicted. Four of them, including Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, were convicted on the basis of plea deals. Only two had full trials. Ten years on, 171 men from 20 countries are still held at the base. None appear to be going anywhere at any foreseeable time in the future and only a handful face any prospect of being brought to trial.
Among the 171 is Omar Khadr. Under his plea deal he became eligible for possible transfer back to Canada anytime after Oct. 31, 2011—but that has not yet come to pass.
Not much of a surprise, as promises and possibilities come and go regularly at Guantanamo. More than two months of waiting for Omar Khadr. More widely, US President Barack Obama’s principled post-inauguration pledge that the infamous prison camp would be closed by January 2010 has been a broken promise for almost two full years now.
I have visited the base three times, and have always come away with the feeling that it is one of the more surreal human rights corners of our world. That the US government has been able to carry out such a travesty in, of all places, a leased corner of Cuba, is but one head-scratching part of the story.
So many troubling human rights tragedies continue to play out at Guantanamo. Six detainees became so despairing of their fate that they reportedly committed suicide. Twelve of the prisoners, again including Omar Khadr, were under 18 years of age when they were taken into custody but their rights as children were frequently and cavalierly disregarded.
Many detainees have been held for years because, although there were no security reasons for their continued detention, it was too dangerous to send them back to their home countries—a cruel labyrinth of supposed human rights concern becoming a pretext for ongoing violations.
The world has paid attention to Guantanamo off and on. Numerous governments—not Canada—have forcefully pushed the US government to release prisoners, particularly their own nationals. UN secretaries-general and human rights experts have waded in at various points in time.
And there was much hope and expectation when President Obama made his now-abandoned January 2009 promise to bring it all to an end. But now it seems as if frustration and the passage of time have given way to complacency and disinterest.
This anniversary should spur President Obama to recommit to his earlier promise. He most certainly faces considerable opposition in Congress. Nevertheless he needs to show leadership and make the case for closing Guantanamo. Ten years on is no time to give up.
It is also time for Canada to wade in; as friend and ally. Prime Ministers Chrétien, Martin and Harper have all had a chance to urge Presidents Bush and Obama to restore human rights protection to Guantanamo's prisoners. They’ve all had the opportunity to urge that it be closed down. But all have remained largely silent.
He has not yet shown any appetite to do so, but the right way for Prime Minister Harper to mark this anniversary would be to call on President Obama to stick with his promise. There can be no second decade. Guantanamo needs to be closed now.
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Alex Neve is secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.
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