Chapter 5 Towards the Closure of Guantanamo: International Legal Obligations | 113 with regard to the Transfer or Release of Detainees TOWARDS THE CLOSURE OF GUANTANAMO: INTERNATIONAL LEGAL OBLIGATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE TRANSFER OR RELEASE OF DETAINEES 272. In Resolution 2/06 issued on July 28, 2006, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged the United States to close the detention facility at Guantanamo without delay. 327 Many U.S. Government officials, including former Secretaries of State and Defense, a former CIA Director, as well as 50 retired generals and admirals, members of U.S. Congress, and even President George W. Bush, who opened the facility in 2002, have also called for Guantanamo’s closure. 328 On January 22, 2009, President Barack Obama adopted Executive Order 13492 which ordered the closure of the detention facility in no later than one year, 329 a decision that was welcomed by the IACHR and the international community. 330 273. The reasons for closing the facility have been varied, from pragmatic reasons, such as the effect on national security331 and financial costs, 332 to more principled 327 328 329 330 331 332 This request was reiterated in Resolution 2/11 adopted on July 22, 2011 and in the context of Precautionary measure 259-02 on July 23, 2013. CBS News, Bush Says He Wants to Close Guantanamo, May 8, 2006. Available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-says-he-wants-to-close-guantanamo/. See also, Human Rights First, Guantanamo: A Comprehensive Exit Strategy, p. 1. Available at: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/uploads/pdfs/close-GTMO-july-2013.pdf, Feinstein, McCain, McDonough Statement on Guantanamo, June 7, 2013. Available at: http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=cf92f5a0-4b2a-4c86-92c158f7dc612b67; and testimony of Elisa Massimino at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on July 24, 2013, p. 6. Available at http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/7-24-13MassiminoTestimony.pdf Executive Order of January 22, 2009, Review and disposition of individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities. Available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-0127/pdf/E9-1893.pdf IACHR welcomes order to close Guantanamo detention center, Press release No. 02/09, January 27, 2009. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/Comunicados/English/2009/02-09eng.htm In his 2013 speech at the National Defense University, President Obama stated: “Our allies won’t cooperate with us if they think a terrorist will end up at GTMO.” Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2013/05/23/remarks-president-national-defense-university The annual cost per Guantanamo detainee is reportedly almost $1 million while it cost less than $65,000 per year to hold a prisoner at the most secure federal prison in the United States. Source: Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing on “Closing Guantanamo: The National Security, Fiscal, and Human Rights Implications”, July 24, 2013, p. 1. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR