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The American prison in Guantánamo Bay (on the territory of sovereign Cuba) still contains 171 prisoners. These people don’t know what the future holds for them. The RF MID considers such a situation unprecedented in recent history, according to a statement posted on the MID website.
The prison at Guantánamo opened 11 January 2002; at first, it was a temporary holding camp. On this day, the Americans brought here the first 20 prisoners captured in the “global war on terrorism” declared by the USA. Over the past 10 years, the camp turned into a full-fledged prison. During that time, almost 800 people from 23 countries between the ages of 25 to 62 passed through its gates. Sergei Maksimov, an expert in international law, commented, “Formally, the Guantánamo detainees are suspected of having links with terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and others. The prison at Guantánamo Bay’s an unusual phenomenon in modern life. This camp contains those accused of various crimes by the US authorities. At the same time, in fact, it’s on the territory of another sovereign state, for its on Cuban territory. From the perspective of contemporary international practise, it’s a surreal situation, where there are extraterritorial prisons, places where people are deprived of liberty without charge”.
Human rights activists have long sounded the alarm about the prison’s operation. Their main argument is that its existence is contrary to international law. Many of the detainees held there have no formal charges against them, but their treatment doesn’t jibe with any of the rules of civilised society. The Americans themselves admit that they used illegal interrogation methods against the prisoners, such as sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, and loud music. We also know that the Americans used waterboarding, a simulation of drowning, against three people suspected of terrorism.
As a result, the prison at Guantánamo Bay became a headache for the US government. Even during the Bush administration, they released 537 prisoners. Barack Obama, after taking office, gave orders to close the prison within a year. That is, it was supposed to close by January 2010. The closure remained a “paper fiction”. Congress blocked this decision, and President Obama didn’t have the courage to use his veto power. People assumed that some of the prisoners would go to trial, and the rest would go to other countries. Yet, only six people faced actual trial, eight have died, but the others have never received formal charges. According to the MID, this situation is unprecedented, and when you consider that the USA holds about 3,000 people in similar conditions in Afghanistan, this is evidence of gross violations of international law by the USA.
The MID also commented on the situation in connection with the adoption of new US anti-terrorism laws, which strengthen the extraterritorial application of US criminal and anti-terrorism legislation in respect of third-country nationals. Consequently, Washington violated its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966. This prohibits false imprisonment and mistreatment of prisoners, and it contains provisions stipulating the need to ensure fair justice. It seems that Washington considers themselves above their international commitments and effectively legalise prisons such as Guantánamo Bay. In fact, President Obama signed the new law, which shows that he’s not trying to restrict his special services.
15 January 2012
Aleksandr Vatutin
Voice of Russia World Service
http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012/01/15/63886145.html
