10 | Towards the Closure of Guantanamo
6.
7.
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the lack of judicial review of claims relating to conditions of detention at
Guantanamo.
Finally, the report looks at the various legal and political aspects involved in taking
steps toward the closure of the detention facility and acknowledges some recent
steps taken by the Executive. This chapter assesses the current situation of the
three categories of detainees currently held at Guantanamo: detainees cleared for
transfer; detainees facing criminal charges before military commissions; and
detainees designated for continued detention. The IACHR analyzes the situation of
the detainees from Yemen separately, an issue which is of key importance in the
closure of the facility. It further elaborates on how transfers should be carried out
in order to comply with international legal obligations and the principle of nonrefoulement. This chapter then analyzes the current state of proceedings before
military commissions, a system that has proven to be slow, inefficient and out of line
with due process guarantees.
The report concludes with some data that speaks for itself. According to official
information, only 8% of Guantanamo detainees were characterized as “fighters” for
Al-Qaeda or the Taliban; 93% were not captured by U.S. forces; and most were
turned over to U.S. custody at a time in which the United States offered bounties for
the capture of suspected terrorists. Only 1% of all prisoners ever held at
Guantanamo have so far been convicted by a military commission; in two of those
eight cases the material support conviction was overturned on appeal by federal
courts. As of January 2015, the handful of ongoing prosecutions before military
commissions remained stagnant at the pre-trial stage, having been in that stage for
several years.
Based on its close analysis of the human rights situation of detainees held at
Guantanamo Bay, in this report the IACHR issues a series of recommendations in
order to encourage the United States to properly fulfill its international human
rights commitments in taking the steps necessary to close Guantanamo. The InterAmerican Commission also reiterates its call upon OAS Member States to consider
receiving Guantanamo detainees in an effort to achieve the goal of closing the prison
and to reaffirm the longstanding tradition of asylum and protection of refugees in
the region. The recommendations are grouped following the same rights-based
approach used in the analysis of the report.
With regard to the conditions of detention, the Inter-American Commission
recommends that the United States ensure that detainees are held in accordance
with international human rights standards; that conditions of detention are subject
to accessible and effective judicial review; that detainees are provided with
adequate medical, psychiatric and psychological care; and that their right to
freedom of conscience and religion is respected. The Commission further
recommends that the U.S. declassify all evidence of torture and ill-treatment;
comply with the recommendations issued by the Committee Against Torture
regarding the investigation of detainee abuse, redress for victims, and the end of the
force-feeding of detainees; and establish an independent monitoring body to
investigate the conditions of detention at Guantanamo Bay.
Organization of American States | OAS