(United Nations) Almost constant surveillance, limited access to families, isolation: the treatment of the last 30 Guantanamo detainees is “cruel, inhuman and degrading”, denounced a UN expert on Monday after the first visit of its kind to the prison American military.
After two decades of fruitless requests from independent UN human rights experts, the special rapporteur on human rights and the fight against terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, was finally authorized to make the visit in February.
Its report released on Monday described, despite “significant improvements” to the detention center, “almost constant surveillance, forced removals from cells, excessive use of restraints”, “structural deficiencies in terms of health, poor access inadequate to families” and “arbitrary detentions characterized by continued violations of the right to a fair trial”.
The totality of all these practices and negligence […] in particular have cumulative aggravating effects on the dignity, freedoms and fundamental rights of each detainee, and this amounts, in my view, to ongoing cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law.
the special rapporteur on human rights and the fight against terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin
“The closure of this establishment remains a priority,” she added, welcoming “the openness and willingness of the United States to set an example” by allowing this visit.
Independent UN human rights experts have sought access to this military prison in southeastern Cuba since it was opened in 2002 to detainees from the US-led ‘war on terror’ , in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Having become a thorn in Washington’s side, accused of unlawful detention, human rights abuses and torture, the prison has counted up to nearly 800 “pows”, most incarcerated despite flimsy evidence of their involvement.
United States “disagreement”
In a letter accompanying the report, the United States expressed its “disagreement” with “numerous assertions” of a document which “does not reflect the official position of the United Nations”, ensuring in particular that the detainees receive medical treatment and can communicate regularly with their family.
“We have given the Special Rapporteur unprecedented access”, being “confident that the conditions of detention at Guantanamo are humane”, wrote the ambassador to the Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor, noting that the Biden administration is “actively working to find suitable locations for the remaining detainees who are transferable.”
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin also looked at the follow-up of the victims of September 11, noting that there was still a lot to be done to respect their “right to reparation”.
Its report underlines that the practice of torture, on “black sites” (underground American prisons) then in Guantanamo “represents the main obstacle for the right of victims to justice”. “Torture was a betrayal of the rights of victims.”
“The US government must ensure accountability for all of its violations of international law, whether they are victims of its counterterrorism practices, current and past detainees, or victims of terrorism,” insisted the expert. .
“I stress the importance of apologies, full support, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition, for all victims,” she said. “And these guarantees will not be less pressing in the years to come.”