Almost constant surveillance, limited access to families, isolation: the treatment of the last 30 Guantanamo detainees is “cruel, inhuman and degrading”, denounced Monday June 26 a UN expert after the first visit of its kind to the American military prison .
After two decades of unsuccessful requests by independent UN human rights experts, the special rapporteur on human rights and the fight against terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, was finally authorized to make this visit in February.
Its report released on Monday describes, despite “significant improvements” to the detention center, “near-constant surveillance, forced extractions from cells, excessive use of restraints”, “structural deficiencies in health, poor access inadequate to families” and “arbitrary detentions characterized by continued violations of the right to a fair trial”.
“The totality of all these practices and neglects (…) have notably cumulative aggravating effects on the dignity, freedoms and fundamental rights of each detainee, and this amounts, in my opinion, to ongoing cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, under international law,” she said at a press conference.
“Closing this establishment remains a priority,” she added, praising “the openness and willingness of the United States to lead by example” by allowing this visit.
Independent UN human rights experts have sought access to this military prison in southeastern Cuba since it was opened in 2002 to detainees from the US-led “war on terrorism” in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Having become a thorn in the side of Washington, accused of unlawful detention, human rights violations and torture, the prison has counted up to nearly 800 “prisoners of war”, most incarcerated despite flimsy evidence of their involvement.
The United States expresses its disagreement with the report
In a letter accompanying the report, the United States expressed its “disagreement” with “numerous assertions” in a document that “does not reflect the official position of the United Nations”, including ensuring that detainees receive medical care and can communicate regularly with their family.
“We have given the Special Rapporteur unprecedented access,” being “confident that the conditions of detention at Guantanomo are humane,” Human Rights Council Ambassador Michèle Taylor wrote, noting that the Biden administration is “actively working to find suitable locations for the remaining detainees who are transferable.”
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin on the other hand looked at the follow-up of the victims of 9/11, noting that there is still a lot to be done to respect their “right to reparation”.
Its report underlines that the practice of torture, on “black sites” (underground American prisons) and then at Guantanamo “represents the main obstacle for the victims’ right to justice”. “Torture was a betrayal of the rights of victims.”
“The U.S. government must ensure accountability for all of its violations of international law, whether they are victims of its counterterrorism practices, current and past detainees, or victims of terrorism,” the expert insisted. .
“I stress the importance of apologies, full care, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition, for all victims,” ??she said. “And those safeguards aren’t going to get any less pressing in the years to come.”
