Obama fails to meet deadline for Guantánamo— Evergreen’s Amnesty International protests
One year ago, human rights activists breathed a temporary sigh of relief when Obama ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, a review of detention center policies, and an end to coercive torture techniques by January 22, 2010. One year later, the deadline has passed and 196 prisoners remain in the detention facility that has come to represent the US’s repressive torture techniques and indifference to international law. The administration has yet to set a new date for closure of the prison. Meanwhile, the conditions in Guantánamo have worsened according to human rights lawyers and recently released prisoners.
On Jan. 11, Evergreen’s Amnesty International staged a demonstration marking the 8 year anniversary of the first detainee admitted when the prison opened in 2002. Four people stood in the Library lobby wearing orange jumpsuits, their hands tied behind their backs and their faces obstructed by black hoods that made the world outside barely visible.
The demonstrators were accompanied by two additional Amnesty members passing out information about their campaign to close Guantánamo. Several people stopped to look at the demonstration which took place during the busy lunch hour. The powerful display signified the torture and human rights abuses perpetuated by the US government which continue to go unaccounted.
Adam Fleischmann, the co-coordinator of Evergreen’s Amnesty International discussed Obama’s failure to close the prison, “Obama said they’re doing a lot but once it became clear that they weren’t, Amnesty stepped up its campaign to close Guantánamo and hold people accountable for torture.”
Amnesty International USA recently launched an 8 week campaign to apply more pressure on the government to shut down Guantánamo. Each week symbolizes each year Guantánamo has been open and has a new action that activists can take to call attention to the prison. The first few weeks include writing letters to newspaper editors, senators, representatives and to Mr. Obama himself.
The recent failed Christmas Day attack has complicated the issue of closing down Guantánamo by unleashing mainstream media hysteria over terrorism once again (just in time for Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan). Obama recently announced that just under 40 prisoners who were scheduled for release to Yemen will remain in Guantánamo for the time being at the date this is published. Despite the fact these people are no longer considered a threat, their fate hinges on the political game following the Christmas event.
Since ordering the closure of Guantánamo, a debate has transpired about where to send prisoners that are deemed too dangerous for release after the prison closes and whether prisoners should be tried in federal courts instead of military tribunals. Using military courts to try prisons is believed by many human rights activists to be unfair and biased. In January 2009, Obama halted the use of military tribunals but later reversed his stance. The passage of the recent $640 billion War Bill in October included a provision which solidified the revival of military tribunals with restrictions on the use of hearsay and “evidence” gained coercively.
Several detainees have been released or transferred to other countries within the past year and a few towns in the US have agreed to house most of the remaining prisoners. Hannah Etengoff, co-coordinator of Amnesty International, pointed out that despite the debate in Senate last year about sending Guantánamo detainees to prisons inside the US, “[One town in Montana] sees this prison as a way to revive their economy. Montana has a place to hold prisoners that was built specifically for housing detainees. The community is willing to have people come.” One town in Illinois is set to receive 100 detainees; that is, if the prison closes.
Last year, Obama also blocked the release of photos depicting abuse within the prison for fear that it would inflame anti-American sediments. Despite the rhetoric of moral high grounds, the blockage of these photos represents the government’s lack of transparency and accountability for torture. The opaqueness of the prison was apparent last week when evidence surfaced that three prisoners who had supposedly committed suicide in 2006 were actually murdered during questioning according to a testimony from a former staff sergeant and a six month Harper’s Magazine investigation.
We’ll see if the Obama administration will continue its excruciatingly slow transition to closing Guantánamo once the Christmas day event dies down. Last week, the administration announced that 50 prisoners may be held indefinitely without trial under the laws of war. This would be yet another violation of human rights if people allow this to happen. People can hold the government accountable by showing them popular support is for shutting down the inhumane prison and delivering justice to the remaining prisoners.
Closing down Guantánamo Bay is a step in the right direction for the US, but if the same abuses continue in other facilities then closing Guantánamo will be nothing more than a symbolic gesture. The president has already declared that prisoners in the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan should not be granted habeas corpus.
Hopefully the campaign to close Guantánamo will incorporate the fact that inhumane conditions will not be tolerated whether they happen in Illinois, Afghanistan or Guantánamo. As Amnesty members finished composing a letter to the editor of The Olympian, long time Amnesty member Erin Genia reminded us that, “All human beings deserve equal access to justice.”
You can learn more about ways to get involved in Amnesty’s campaign by attending a meeting with Amnesty International on Wednesdays at 1:30 pm in the Student Activities Office or by visiting www.amnestyusa.org.