Amnesty asks Biden to close U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay

HAVANA, Jan. 8th (DPA) Amnesty International has urged United States President Joe Biden to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba which has been operational for 20 years this month.The camp stands for arbitrariness, injustice, and torture, Amnesty’s U.S. expert, Sumit Bhattacharyya, told dpa in Washington.

Mr Bhattacharyya urged Biden to close the camp and bring people who were involved in torture or other illegal activities there to justice.

The camp which now has 39 detainees left, was established under the government of Republican President George Bush to hold suspected Islamist terrorists without trial after September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC.

Mr Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, wanted to close it but failed due to opposition in the U.S. Congress, while Republican Donald Trump wanted to keep the camp open.

Mr Biden, who was Mr Obama’s vice-president, is trying to push through with plans to close the facility.

To mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the opening of the camp, the rights body is planning protests in several cities in Germany and other countries on Saturday.

The first prisoners were brought to the Guantanamo camp – located on a U.S. military base in Cuba on January 11, 2002.