(Geneva) A UN human rights expert announced on Tuesday that she had received a “preliminary invitation” from Washington to visit the Guantanamo camp, which would be a first after two decades of requests.
Posted at 3:31 p.m.
Independent UN human rights experts have sought access to the military prison in southeastern Cuba since it opened in 2002 to detainees from the US-led ‘war on terror’. United.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States government has extended a preliminary invitation to me to conduct a technical visit to the United States Naval Station Guantanamo, Cuba,” said Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Special Rapporteur on Advancement and the protection of human rights while countering terrorism, at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Mme Ni Aolain highlighted the situation of prisoners who remained behind bars, which “commits continuous violations of international law”.
The prison, which had up to 800 inmates, now holds 38 men, some of whom arrived within the first few months of its opening.
“Many of these men are entering their twentieth year of detention by the United States,” she said.
She recalled that the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture had “determined that the current conditions at the Guantanamo camp constitute circumstances which amount to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law”.
“These men live with the deep trauma of psychological and physical torture,” she added.
“The continued detention of them at the site where they suffered such profound violations constitutes an implacable violation of their fundamental rights.”
Those transferred out of Guantanamo “continue to live in legal limbo, without recourse, legal status or rehabilitation in resettlement or origin countries.”
While lamenting the situation, Fionnuala Ni Aolain hailed the invitation as a “positive step”.
She clarified that a preliminary invitation meant the parameters of the visit were still being discussed.
“It is about ensuring that the requirements of independence and impartiality can be guaranteed, and that the conditions will be met to allow an unhindered visit,” she said.
” This could take a while “.