THE CONTINUING detention of more than 170 men at Guantánamo Bay symbolises a decade of failure by the US to respect human rights, Amnesty International has said on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the facility.
In a report published in advance of today’s anniversary, Amnesty highlights the unlawful treatment of Guantánamo detainees and details why the detention centre continues to represent what it describes as “an attack on human rights”. Despite US president Barack Obama’s pledge shortly after his January 2009 inauguration to close the facility within a year, 171 men were still being held there last month. The Obama administration has blamed its failure to fulfil its promises on Congress, which it claims has made shutting the detention centre more difficult.
Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, said the US government had “completely ignored fundamental human rights from day one” of the detentions. “For a country that speaks about human rights around the world, it is very reluctant to apply them to itself.”
Referring to Obama’s failure to close the centre, Mr O’Gorman said: “The US cannot hide behind domestic political differences to excuse the unlawful detention of dozens of prisoners, including some who have been the victims of torture. The Obama administration – indeed large parts of all three branches of the federal government – have simply adopted President Bush’s approach.”
Amnesty also drew attention to Ireland’s role in the US renditions programme through the use of Shannon airport.
“Ireland is not an innocent bystander. We have been complicit in kidnapping and torture by allowing Shannon airport to be used as a stopover for rendition flights,” Mr O’Gorman said.