US in talks to close Guantanamo Bay
-12/03/06
The US has asked the British government f
US in talks to close Guantanamo Bay
-12/03/06
The US has asked the British government for advice in preparation for closing down the notorious prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and sending hundreds of alleged al-Qa’ida fighters back to their home countries, reports the Independent on Sunday.
It comes after campaigns by Christians including many church leaders, and others who have criticised the detention facility for human rights abuses.
Just last week the Archbishop of Canterbury launched an attack on Guantanamo Bay, saying that it set a precedent for dictators around the world.
The United States is now seeking ways to repatriate terrorism suspects held in Guantanamo Bay, a move that could eventually lead to the closure of the detention camp, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday.
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President Bush is under intense and growing international pressure to close down the notorious camp in Cuba, where more than 500 alleged Islamist terrorists and Taliban fighters are being held without trial.
Organizations across the world have condemned Washington’s use of indefinite detentions without charge and want Guantanamo to close as soon as possible.
Bishops in the UK have been campaigning since 2003 for the rights of British detainees at the camp.
Seven Christians protesting the denial of rights to prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base face jail terms of up to 10 years for their protests against it.
In 2004, the World Council of Churches also focused its attention on US torture at the Base.
More recently the Archbishop of York compared George W Bush to the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, saying that the US President was perversely applying rules which apply in a war situation, to Guantanamo Bay.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair however has not publicly gone beyond saying the detention camp is an “anomaly” which must at some point end.
Legal sources in the US have confirmed that senior Bush officials now want to send most of the detainees, including senior aides to Osama bin Laden and at least five British residents, to be imprisoned in their home countries – a process that could start within weeks.
“We have no intention of operating Guantanamo any day longer than we have to,” U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Colleen Graffy told Reuters. “If there is another viable alternative to deal with these detainees then that’s something we are obviously always looking at.”
She said there was no immediate plan to close the camp but that there were ongoing considerations about what to do with the detainees in the long term.
Her comments followed last week’s visit to London by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whom the Independent on Sunday reported had asked British ministers about their attempts to deport terrorism suspects to their home countries.
About 490 foreign terrorism suspects, many of them suspected Islamist militants, are being held at the naval base in Cuba.
Most have been detained for three years or more and only 10 have been charged with a crime.
The United States argues it has the right to hold people it describes as enemy combatants because it is effectively at war with al-Qa’ida.
US in talks to close Guantanamo Bay
-12/03/06
The US has asked the British government for advice in preparation for closing down the notorious prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and sending hundreds of alleged al-Qa’ida fighters back to their home countries, reports the Independent on Sunday.
It comes after campaigns by Christians including many church leaders, and others who have criticised the detention facility for human rights abuses.
Just last week the Archbishop of Canterbury launched an attack on Guantanamo Bay, saying that it set a precedent for dictators around the world.
The United States is now seeking ways to repatriate terrorism suspects held in Guantanamo Bay, a move that could eventually lead to the closure of the detention camp, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday.
Related Articles
President Bush is under intense and growing international pressure to close down the notorious camp in Cuba, where more than 500 alleged Islamist terrorists and Taliban fighters are being held without trial.
Organizations across the world have condemned Washington’s use of indefinite detentions without charge and want Guantanamo to close as soon as possible.
Bishops in the UK have been campaigning since 2003 for the rights of British detainees at the camp.
Seven Christians protesting the denial of rights to prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base face jail terms of up to 10 years for their protests against it.
In 2004, the World Council of Churches also focused its attention on US torture at the Base.
More recently the Archbishop of York compared George W Bush to the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, saying that the US President was perversely applying rules which apply in a war situation, to Guantanamo Bay.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair however has not publicly gone beyond saying the detention camp is an “anomaly” which must at some point end.
Legal sources in the US have confirmed that senior Bush officials now want to send most of the detainees, including senior aides to Osama bin Laden and at least five British residents, to be imprisoned in their home countries – a process that could start within weeks.
“We have no intention of operating Guantanamo any day longer than we have to,” U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Colleen Graffy told Reuters. “If there is another viable alternative to deal with these detainees then that’s something we are obviously always looking at.”
She said there was no immediate plan to close the camp but that there were ongoing considerations about what to do with the detainees in the long term.
Her comments followed last week’s visit to London by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whom the Independent on Sunday reported had asked British ministers about their attempts to deport terrorism suspects to their home countries.
About 490 foreign terrorism suspects, many of them suspected Islamist militants, are being held at the naval base in Cuba.
Most have been detained for three years or more and only 10 have been charged with a crime.
The United States argues it has the right to hold people it describes as enemy combatants because it is effectively at war with al-Qa’ida.