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New York, June 27, (dpa/GNA) – The US government’s treatment of the remaining inmates at the notorious Guantánamo Bay detention centre in Cuba is “cruel, inhumane and degrading,” a UN expert said on Monday.
“I observed that after two decades of custody, the suffering of those detained is profound, and it’s ongoing,” UN special rapporteur Fionnuala Ni Aolain said in New York.
She called for the closure of the camp, which was set up by then US president George Bush, after the September 11, 2001 attacks to hold suspected Islamist terrorists without trial.
Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, wanted to close it, but failed due to opposition in the US Congress, while Donald Trump wanted to keep the camp open.
President Joe Biden wants to shut it down, but critics say he has not taken meaningful steps to do so.
Thirty men are still being held there. At times, almost 800 people were jailed at the camp located at the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay.
Earlier this month, Ni Aolain became the first UN special rapporteur to visit the detention centre, after having been given permission from the US.
She thanked Washington for the approval and said, she had been given full access to the site.
Ni Aolain issued a report on Monday that said “significant improvements to the conditions of confinement” had been made since earlier UN examinations.
The report blasted the “near-constant surveillance, forced cell extractions, undue use of restraints, and other arbitrary, non-human rights compliant operating procedures.”
GNA
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