UN expert denounces the “inhuman treatment” of the last Guantanamo detainees

Almost constant surveillance, limited family access, isolation… The treatment of the last 30 Guantanamo detainees is “cruel, inhuman and degrading”, denounced a UN expert after the first visit of its kind to the American military prison. After two decades of fruitless requests, the special rapporteur on human rights and the fight against terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, was finally authorized to carry out this visit in February.

In a report released Monday, June 26, she describes “forced cell extractions, excessive use of means of restraint”, “structural deficiencies in health, inadequate access to families” And “arbitrary detentions characterized by continued violations of the right to a fair trial”.

“The totality of all these practices and negligence (…) have in particular cumulative aggravating effects on the dignity, freedoms and fundamental rights of each prisoner.”

Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism

at a press conference

If the UN expert noted “significant improvements” in the detention center, she also felt that “The closure of this establishment remains a priority”. She also welcomed “the openness and willingness of the United States to lead by example” allowing this visit.

The United States expresses its “disagreement”

In a letter accompanying the report, the United States expressed its “disagreement” with “many assertions” of a document which, according to them, “does not reflect the official position of the United Nations”. “We have given the Special Rapporteur unprecedented access”while being “confident that the conditions of detention at Guantanamo are humane”, wrote the American ambassador to the Human Rights Council. She clarified that the Biden administration “is actively working to find suitable places for the remaining detainees who are transferable”.