Yesterday, Wednesday April 5, eight coordinated global vigils took place calling for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay — and the release of the 17 men (out of the 31 still held) who have been approved for release.
Campaigners in the UK — with the UK Guantánamo Network, which includes various Amnesty International groups, Close Guantánamo, the Guantánamo Justice Campaign and the London Guantánamo campaign — began holding monthly vigils outside Parliament last September, and two months ago, following global actions to mark the 21st anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, I asked fellow campaigners in Washington, D.C. to join us, which they did. Last month, campaigners in New York and Mexico City also joined us, and yesterday campaigners in Brussels, Los Angeles, Raleigh, NC and Cobleskill, NY also joined in.
Those taking part included the UK Guantánamo Network, Amnesty International, Close Guantánamo, Witness Against Torture, World Can’t Wait, CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations), ICUJP (Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace), NC Stop Torture Now, Schoharie Peacemakers and the Comité Free.Assange.Belgium, while supporting organizations include NRCAT (the National Religious Campaign Against Torture), September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and NYC Veterans For Peace.
I wrote the following article for the “Close Guantánamo” website, which I established in January 2012, on the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, with the US attorney Tom Wilner. Please join us — just an email address is required to be counted amongst those opposed to the ongoing existence of Guantánamo, and to receive updates of our activities by email.
With the release from Guantánamo three weeks ago of the Saudi citizen Ghassan al-Sharbi, the prison now holds just 31 men, out of the 779 held by the US military since it first opened over 21 years ago.
17 of these 31 men have been approved for release, and yet there is no way of knowing when, if ever, they will be released, because they did not have their release ordered by a court, but recommended by administrative review processes, and, as a result, they cannot appeal to a judge to order their release if, as is the case, the government shows no sense of urgency when it comes to freeing them.
Complicating matters, however, we acknowledge that, in the cases of 13 of these men, the US government must find third countries prepared to offer them new homes, because provisions inserted by Republicans into the annual National Defense Authorization Act since the early years of the Obama presidency prevent any repatriations from Guantánamo to countries including Yemen, Libya and Somalia, and eleven of these men are Yemeni, one is a Libyan, and another is a Somali. An additional complication is that none of these men can be resettled in the US, because another provision in the NDAA prevents any Guantánamo prisoner from being brought to the US mainland for any reason.
Thanks to the many campaigners who turned up on Wednesday (March 8) in London, Washington, D.C., New York and Mexico City for four coordinated global vigils calling for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay.
It was a day of extremes. Those in London for the UK Guantánamo Network’s vigil had to endure an extraordinarily cold, wet day, while in Washington, D.C. it was warm, and in Mexico City, apparently, it was almost unbearably hot.
With the release from Guantánamo last week of the Rabbani brothers, Ahmed and Abdul Rahim, the last two Pakistanis in the prison, Guantánamo now holds just 32 men, at an annual cost of at least $17 million a prisoner.
18 of these men — like the Rabbanis — have been approved for release, and yet they are still held because the Biden administration is not legally compelled to free them — unlike Majid Khan, who completed a military commission sentence last year and was resettled in Belize a month ago.
This is because the high-level government review processes that determined, unanimously, that the US no longer wanted to hold these men were purely administrative, meaning that the men, unlike Khan, cannot ask a judge to order their release, even though none of them have never even been charged with a crime.
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).
Email Andy Worthington
Please support Andy Worthington, independent journalist: