Guantanamo

Horror at Trump’s Guantánamo: 53 Migrants Now Held Illegally and Incommunicado in the “War on Terror” Prison

15.2.25

My detailed analysis of the latest disturbing news regarding Donald Trump’s “war on migrants”, and, specifically, his use of Guantánamo, where, as of February 12, 98 Venezuelan migrants had been sent from the US mainland, with 45 of them being held in the Migrant Operations Center used since the 1990s, and 53 in Camp 6 of the notorious “war on terror” prison, after the three remaining “low-value detainees” — all long approved for release, but still held — were moved into the neighboring Camp 5, where the other remaining prisoners, 12 “high-value detainees”, are also held. The legality of sending any migrant from the US mainland to Guantánamo is extremely dubious, but it is beyond doubt that holding any of these men in the “war on terror” prison is absolutely illegal, because the authorization for holding prisoners there, passed after the 9/11 attacks, stipulates that they can only be people accused of involvement with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces, in connection with 9/11. Framing this in the context of Trump’s wider “war on migrants”, I analyze the cynical comparisons being deliberately made with the “war on terror”, I examine the lawsuit submitted last week seeking access to the prison for lawyers representing the migrants, and I also examine the stories that have emerged of three of these men, which reveal the same sweeping generalizations and distortions that were used to demonize Muslims in the “war on terror.” As with the almost entirely non-existent terrorists at Guantánamo, beginning 23 years ago, the migrants seem not to be “the worst of the worst”, as the Trump administration suggests, but entirely unconnected with any kind of criminal activity — one being a car mechanic, and another a barber — who were doing nothing more than trying, with the odds stacked against them, as for so many migrants, simply to get into the US to work.

Photos and Report: Global Close Guantánamo Vigils Resume As Trump Begins Illegally Holding Migrants in the Prison

12.2.25

Photos from, and my report about the coordinated monthly global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and in London, Brussels and Mexico City on February 5, 2025, and the week after. The vigils have been taking place on the first Wednesday of every month for the last two years, and will continue under Donald Trump, especially as he has now shocked the world by illegally sending migrants to the prison as part of the vile “war on migrants” that he launched when he took office.

Trump is Illegally Holding Migrants Seized in the US in the “War on Terror” Prison at Guantánamo Bay

8.2.25

In a disturbing development involving Guantánamo and Donald Trump’s “war on migrants”, it has emerged that ten Venezuelans seized on the US mainland and flown to Guantánamo are not being held in the migrant detention facility that has been used for migrants intercepted at sea since the 1990s, but are being held instead in Camp 6 of the “war on terror” prison, established in 2002. While the legality of sending migrants to the Guantánamo naval base has not been established, it is abundantly clear that no authority whatsoever exists to justify imprisoning migrants in the “war on terror” prison — even those, like these men, who are accused of involvement in the Tren de Aragua gang, designated as a terrorist group. As the Center for Victims of Torture explained in an important briefing yesterday, only those allegedly involved with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces, in connection with the 9/11 attacks, can be held at Guantánamo according to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which justified its creation. As CVT added, the AUMF “does not authorize military detention of migrants, criminals or anyone broadly designated as a ‘terrorist’ or member of a Foreign Terrorist Organization.” As lawyers begin to prepare legal challenges, it seems inconceivable that the Trump administration can defend its actions — but these are such troubling times that nothing about the law seems certain anymore, as Trump seeks to position himself as thoroughly unaccountable.

To Hold 30,000 Migrants in Prison at Guantánamo, How Does Trump Propose to Redefine Them So They’re Beyond the Reach of the Law?

5.2.25

My detailed examination of Donald Trump’s cynical and provocative announcement, last week, that he had issued an executive order for the massive expansion of an existing migrant detention facility on the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay to hold 30,000 migrants as part of a monstrous “war on migrants” that has been unfolding since he took office just two weeks ago. I look at how Trump drew on the use of the facility to hold, at one point, 25,000 Haitian and Cuban migrants in the 1990s, and also at how he is using the proximity of the nearby “war on terror” prison to suggest that the migrants are “terrorists”, who should be held without rights, and how officials in his administration have reinforced this notion by describing those to be sent to the facility as “the worst of the worst.” I also examine the deeply troubling legal basis — or the lack of it — when it comes to holding migrants at Guantánamo, which has long been used by the US government as a “law-free zone”, and question who it is intended for, when Trump has already massively expanded the use of “expedited removal” to allow immigration enforcement agents in the US to remove undocumented migrants and send them back to their home countries without being able to meet with a lawyer or have any kind of immigration hearing. This is especially troubling as reports emerge of the first arrivals at the migrant facility, and I wonder, in particular, if Trump will, as I describe it, seek to create “a new law that would explicitly endorse holding undocumented migrants at Guantánamo indefinitely on the basis that they pose a direct threat to the US and its security as ‘invaders’ or ‘terrorists.’”

Video: “Guantánamo at 23”, My New America Event with Tom Wilner and Karen Greenberg, and My One-Hour Podcast Interview with Margaret Flowers

19.1.25

The video of the powerful and poignant online discussion about Guantánamo, hosted by New America, which took place on January 14, marking the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison three days earlier, featuring myself, Tom Wilner and Karen Greenberg, and moderated by Peter Bergen. Also included: a link to my one-hour interview with the activist Margaret Flowers for her “Clearing the FOG” podcast on Popular Resistance.

Photos and Report: Close Guantánamo Vigils Marking the 23rd Anniversary of the Prison’s Opening, January 11, 2025

13.1.25

Photos from, and my report about the vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and in London on January 11, 2025, the truly shameful 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison. Most of those involved are part of the coordinated monthly global vigils that have been taking place on the first Wednesday of every month for the last two years, and which will continue under Donald Trump. With 15 men recently released, the vigils involved a huge sense of relief that Biden had finally taken action after 20 months in which no prisoners were freed, but 15 men still remain, all held in what I describe as “varying states of lawlessness.”

Video: I Discuss Guantánamo Past, Present and Future with David Swanson on Talk World Radio

8.1.25

The video of my half-hour interview with the great peace activist David Swanson for his Talk World Radio show, which is syndicated by the Pacifica Network throughout the US, in which I was very helpfully and generously given the time to explain the many crimes of Guantánamo past, present and future. As David helpfully entitled the show, “Close Guantánamo While Its Victims Are Still Alive.”

Wonderful News as Eleven Men Are Freed from Guantánamo and Resettled in Oman

7.1.25

Wonderful news, as eleven Yemeni men, long approved for release from Guantánamo, have finally been freed and resettled in Oman. I’ve spent two years writing about and campaigning relentlessly for the release of these men, despite indifference from the mainstream media. I’d like to particularly congratulate Tina Kaidanow, appointed by President Biden to oversee resettlements from Guantánamo, for working so hard to free them, even after her efforts were cynically canceled in October 2023. Behind the scenes, however, she continued to press for their release, although sadly she died in October before seeing the results of all her work. With these releases, just 15 men are still held at Guantánamo, and, although it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on what freedom means for these eleven men, after over two decades of imprisonment without charge or trial, it’s also important that we continue to push for justice for the men still held — three others who have long been approved for release, another three “forever prisoners” who have never been charged, and nine men caught up in the military commission system, where justice remains elusive because of the use of torture, and plea deals are the only viable way to bring some sort of closure to the brutal and failed Guantánamo experiment.

Guantánamo at 23: Global Vigils on January 11 and an Ongoing Photo Campaign Marking 8,400 Days on January 9

6.1.25

Publicizing the imminent 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, on January 11, marked by vigils taking place across the US and around the world, as well as the Close Guantánamo campaign’s ongoing photo campaign, marking 8,400 days of the prison’s existence on January 9. I also stress the urgent need for the Biden administration to resettle 14 men long approved for release before leaving office. in just 13 days’ time. If they’re not freed, they’ll be entombed at Guantánamo for another four years under Donald Trump.

The “Ghost” of Guantánamo is Freed; Ridah Al-Yazidi, Never Charged, Held Since Day One, and Approved for Release 15 Years Ago

31.12.24

My report about the welcome repatriation of Ridah Al-Yazidi, the last Tunisian prisoner at Guantánamo, who was on the first flight into Guantánamo, nearly 23 years ago, but was never charged with a crime. After eight years of imprisonment without charge or trial, he was one of 156 men approved for release by the Guantánamo Review Task Force, a multi-agency review process established by President Obama to review the cases of the 240 men inherited from George W. Bush. The Task Force’s report was published in January 2010, but Al-Yazidi was one of only three men, out of these 156, who were not freed, and who have been waiting to be released ever since, an intolerably long wait that was blamed by State Department officials on long-standing difficulties in negotiating with the Tunisian government, but which was also complicated by Al-Yazidi’s refusal to accept representation by an attorney or to negotiate with the US authorities.

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Andy Worthington

Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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