One more broken promise to close Guantanamo
I spent 14 years imprisoned at the Guantanamo detention facility, but I never faced criminal charges. When I was 19 years old, I was assigned there. I didn’t know why I was being held, what I had done to be imprisoned, or when I would be released.
I backed the American forces’ commitment to upholding their own ideals of justice and legality, and that I would be able to defend myself and establish my innocence like many other men who were detained at Guantanamo. That never happened.
Instead, I was subjected to torture and continual harassment. After 14 years, I fought for human rights and human rights, and I was freed. I had the idea that one day the world would find out what had happened to us and demand accountability and justice while I was imprisoned. I believed that if people knew, they would end this miserable place.
Nearly nine years have passed since my release. I have continued to write and speak in interviews about what has happened all this time. The world knows, and yet, Guantanamo is still functioning.
Earlier this month, we marked the 23rd anniversary of its creation. We are approaching the end of a US president’s term that he had promised to end. One has to wonder after all the reports by the United Nations and various human rights organisations, media reports, documentaries, books, etc – why is this symbol of injustice still standing?
Following the tragic event that shook the world, Guantanamo established itself. In its wake, the US launched the so-called global “war on terror”, a campaign ostensibly aimed at combating terrorism but which, in reality, legalised torture, undermined international law, and dehumanised an entire faith community.
Guantanamo detention center, which is located on the island of Cuba, was purposefully constructed to avoid international norms and constitutional protections, making it a place where detainees could be held indefinitely without facing charges or trials.
Indefinite detention is a direct assault on justice principles. The very foundation of legal systems is the practice of holding people without charge or trial. Detainees are subject to years, sometimes decades, of suffering without any apparent resolution because of it.
Guantanamo became a blueprint for other forms of extrajudicial detention, torture, and human rights abuses worldwide. The proliferation of CIA black sites, the normalization of Islamophobia, and the deterioration of international standards intended to safeguard human dignity all demonstrate the prison’s legacy.
Guantanamo is the most infamous symbol of the global war on terror, institutionalizing practices that dehumanize Muslims. It fuelled Islamophobic rhetoric, justified invasive surveillance programmes, and stigmatised entire communities as potential threats.
The US took the lead on all this, and many states followed suit, using US “war on terror” rhetoric to justify attacks on whole communities. Muslim and other under-represented groups have suffered the most as a result.
At its peak, Guantanamo held , approximately 680 , men and boys, many of whom had been sold as “terrorists” to US forces in exchange for renumeration. I was affected by this.
As of today, 15 men remain in Guantanamo. Some have been released, but they continue to languish in limbo, a sign that US institutions are failing to uphold even the most fundamental human rights. Every day is a continuation of psychological and physical torment for these men, a state of being neither free nor formally accused.
Guantanamo will be closed for the past 16 years, according to numerous reports. In 2009, US President Barack Obama famously swore an executive order to require the facility’s closure in his second day in office. Then-Vice President Joe Biden , was standing right next to him, applauding. Biden both made and broke the same promise when he became president in 2021.
The prison still costs about $ 540 million annually.
Guantanamo continues to operate, leaving the US with a moral stumbling legacy. It stands as a glaring contradiction of the ideals of liberty, justice, and human rights that the US claims to champion. Its existence undermines authoritarian regimes’ credibility around the world and makes them more willing to defend their own crimes.
I wait for the international community to wake up and demand action to end the military prison, bring justice to its victims, and hold those responsible for its creation and perpetuity accountable every year. Every year I am disappointed.
More than just a crime against its detainees and their families, Guantanamo Military Prison is. For over two decades, it has symbolised systematic torture, arbitrary detention, and the weakening of the global human rights regime. Guantanamo violates the Geneva Conventions and uses systematically to abuse primarily Muslim detainees in ways that entail crimes against humanity.
As a new administration takes office in Washington, I have the same message for them as I had for their predecessors:
Close Guantanamo. Stop the indefinite detention practice and shut down the facility.
Secure justice. Give the rest of the candidates fair trials and release those who have been transferred.
Ensure accountability. Investigate and hold accountable those responsible for authorising torture, extrajudicial detention, and other abuses.
Acknowledge and apologise. Accept and express regret for the injustices committed.
Provide reparations. Former prisoners are to be compensated for the harm they suffered.
Shuttering Guantanamo is more than just about ending a physical location; it also symbolizes ending a dark period in history. It’s about reaffirming the principles of justice, dignity, and human rights that should be upheld for all people, regardless of their origin or beliefs. Guantanamo must not see another anniversary.
Source: Aljazeera
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