Ten years ago today, the first detainees were transferred to the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Since then 779 people have been held, yet only one has been transferred to the USA for trial in an ordinary federal court.
Yesterday I met with acting US Consul General Kevin Roland at the Consulate in Belfast to record our demand that the Guantánamo Bay detention camp be closed down, in line with the requirements of international law. I gave him a copy of our new report, Guantánamo: A Decade of Damage to Human Rights (PDF), and our call that the 171 remaining prisoners be charged with recognisable offences and given a fair trial or released if there is no evidence on which to base their continued detention.
This video summarises the case against Guantánamo, including the fact that its existence and the rejection of the rule of international law by the US that the camp represents, has been intepreted as a green light by other States to similarly disregard interantional human rights requirements:
You can sign our petition to President Obama here.