Originally published on the CGS blog on March 3, 2016.
President Obama has once again called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, delivering a new plan to Congress last Tuesday.
Immediately, national attention shifted to logistical concerns of where the current detainees will be transferred to upon the closure. The salience of relocation is undeniable and must be taken seriously. However, as President Obama stated, this plan is not only about closing Guantanamo Bay’s detention center, it is about closing “a chapter in our history.” A chapter which reads almost exclusively as a laundry list of human rights and humanitarian abuses committed under the reign of the “War on Terror.”
President Obama went on to call the detention center “a stain on our broader record of upholding the highest standards of the law.” A stain consisting of interrogation tactics recognized by Amnesty International as prolonged isolation, 20-hour interrogations, force-feeding, and sensory deprivation. These tactics have been criticized by the medical community for having a series of long-term physical and psychological effects on the victims, including depression, delusions, and thoughts of suicide. Consequentially, the treatment of detainees has sparked international concern.
Upon President Obama’s announcement, United Nations human rights experts urged “proper investigation and full accountability for human rights violations” in his plans to close the facility. The UN insists that “those who are responsible must be brought to justice.”
The international community is making it clear that the United States’ actions of holding detainees without due process and proper judicial protection is inexcusable and violates the Geneva Convention Against Torture. The indefinite holding of detainees is also a violation of the United States Constitution. In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the detainee to habeas corpus, yet has never allowed any appeals to prevail.
A democracy like that of the United States should face consequences when it commits both international and domestic human rights violations such as indefinite detention and physical and psychological torture.
The mere closure of Guantanamo Bay’s detention center has been a long time coming. However, despite this political stride, there must still be accountability for human rights abuses. Crimes such as torture should not be hidden in the shadows of U.S. foreign policy any longer. Promoting transparency brings hope that there will be institutional changes regarding the treatment of detainees in the future. Taking responsibility for its actions at Guantanamo Bay could be a crucial step for the United States in legitimizing its claim to being a human rights leader for the rest of the world.
