Close Guantánamo - Q&A

You say “Close Guantánamo”. Does that mean you think all the detainees should be released? What’s the alternative? | How many people are detained in Guantánamo Bay? | Where are the detainees from? | Has anyone been charged or tried?| What are trials by military commission? | What do you mean by “challenging the lawfulness of a person’s detention”? | What do you mean by a “fair trial”?| What are Amnesty’s concerns about torture and ill-treatment in Guantánamo Bay? | Are there any Canadians detained at Guantánamo? | Have any other children been detained in Guantánamo? | Is Guantánamo the only “war on terror” detention centre Amnesty is concerned about? | What is the Canadian’s government’s position on Guantánamo Bay? | What have other governments said about Guantánamo Bay?

You say “Close Guantánamo”. Does that mean you think all the detainees should be released? What’s the alternative? [top]

Even the US administration says it would like to close Guantanamo Bay if there was an alternative. Amnesty International believes the alternative is clear:

• End indefinite detention.
• Stop torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Release any detainees who are not to be charged with criminal offences and brought to a fair trial that meets international standards. The current military commissions do not meet this standard.
• Ensure that no one is sent to a country where he will face further human rights violations. Evaluate the risk for each detainee. If they cannot be returned to their home country, another safe destination must be found.

How many people are detained in Guantánamo Bay? [top]

Over 770 detainees have passed through the gates of Guantánamo Bay since January 2002. Approximately 435 people representing some 30 nationalities are currently detained.

Where are the detainees from? [top]

Many of those held in Guantánamo were captured during the international conflict in Afghanistan. Others were picked up outside any zones of armed conflict in countries as diverse as Gambia, Bosnia, Egypt, Indonesia and Thailand.

Those that have been released from Guantánamo – some 340 people – have been transferred to countries including Albania, Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Yemen.

Has anyone been charged or tried? [top]

Almost all of the Guantánamo detainees are held without charge or trial.

No one has been convicted of any criminal charge. In fact, over three hundred have now been released without charge. A further 110 of those still held are now considered eligible for release or transfer by US authorities

Approximately 15 of the detainees have been charged and currently face trial by military commission. In early September 2006, fourteen “high value” detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh who the US suspects of planning and coordinating the 9-11 plot, were transferred from secret CIA custody to Guantánamo. It is believed that they will also be tried by military commission.

Amnesty International believes the Military Commission system falls far short of international standards for fair trials.

What are trials by military commission? [top]

In November 2001, US President Bush signed a Military Order establishing trials by military commission (a form of military trial) for non-US citizens. The decisions of the military commission would be final – there is no right of appeal to any court. Hearsay evidence and evidence obtained by torture or other ill-treatment could be used. The standards of evidence are much lower that those afforded US citizens. The commissions have the power to hand down death sentences.

In June 2006 – after proceedings had started in a number of cases – the US Supreme Court ruled that President Bush had overstepped his authority in ordering Military Commissions trials. The Supreme Court also found that the proposed commissions violated both US law and the Geneva conventions.

Instead of bringing the proposed system into line with international law, however, in September 2006 the US Congress approved the Military Commissions Act to try the foreign nationals held at Guantánamo. In addition to continuing to allow lower standards of evidence and death sentences, the new Act went a step further in undermining the basic human rights of the detainees. Whether charged for trial or not, those detained by the USA as "enemy combatants" cannot challenge the lawfulness or conditions of their detention in habeas corpus appeals.

What do you mean by “challenging the lawfulness of a person’s detention”? [top]

Everone has the right to be protected from arbitrary detention. Under international human rights standards – including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – anyone who is detained must be given a genuine opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of his or her detention before a judicial or similar authority which will undertake a thorough review of the specific reasons for the detention. The burden of proof is on the detaining authority (in the case of Guantánamo Bay, that is the US government). Detainees also have the right to have their detention reviewed on a regular basis.

What do you mean by a “fair trial”? [top]

There are many aspects to a “fair trial”, including rights before, during and after trial. These include:

• the right to be presumed innocent
• the right to be informed of the reasons for their arrest or detention and of their rights, including their right to a lawyer
• the right to mount a defense
• the right to call and examine witnesses
• evidence collected through torture or other coercion, including confessions by the accused, cannot be used

 People under the age of 18 have additional rights. Detention should be a last resort, and for the shortest appropriate time. Juvenile justice systems should promote the physical and mental well-being of child detainees. Rehabilitation – not punishment – must be the priority.

What are Amnesty’s concerns about torture and ill-treatment in Guantánamo Bay? [top]

Some of the detainees are still held in maximum security blocks, sometimes for up to 24 hours a day and with very little out-of-cell exercise time. Repeated, lengthy interrogations without the presence of a lawyer have raised fears that statements may have been extracted under coercion.

Interrogation methods include:

• prolonged isolation
• sleep deprivation
• sensory (sound/light) and environmental (heat/cold) manipulation
• prolonged stress positions
• sexual & other forms of humiliation
• beatings
• prolonged handcuffing
• hooding & blindfolding
• the use of dogs, mock executions and other threats to instil terror

The uncertainty about their legal status and future, together with the actual detention conditions, combine to create an environment in which detainees face severe psychological distress.

There have been over 40 suicide attempts at the camp since it opened in January 2002. Detainee Jumah al Dossari has attempted to commit suicide at least 12 times. Three men died at Guantánamo in June 2006, after apparent suicides. As many as two hundred detainees have gone on prolonged hunger strikes, some kept alive only through painful force feeding measures.

Are there any Canadians detained at Guantánamo? [top]

There is one Canadian citizen detained in Guantánamo Bay: Omar Khadr.

Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was wounded during a battle with U.S. forces near Khost, Afghanistan and taken into U.S. custody on July 27, 2002. The U.S. military says that Omar Khadr killed a U.S. soldier, Sergeant Christopher J. Speer, during the fighting. Despite serious injuries, Omar Khadr’s interrogation began immediately and it is alleged that he was denied adequate medical care and forced into stress positions.

In October 2002, Omar Khadr was transferred from Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan to Guantánamo Bay. He was charged in November 2005 with four counts including conspiracy and murder of a member of the U.S. military. He is currently before a military commission in Guantánamo Bay. Amnesty International is concerned that Omar Khadr – now 19 years of age – was granted none of the special protections for juveniles under international law and that his fundamental human rights continue to be denied. Among other concerns, he was interrogated for three years before being allowed to consult a lawyer.

One of Omar Khadr’s older brothers, Abdulrahman, was also detained in Guantánamo Bay. He was released in 2003 and eventually returned to Canada.

Note: for more information and action on the case Of Omar Khadr: http://www.amnesty.ca/take_action/actions/canada_omar_khadr.php

Have any other children been detained in Guantánamo? [top]

Some estimates suggest that as many as 17 detainees were transferred to Guantánamo when they were under 18 years old.  In additional to Canadian national Omar Khadr,  at least three of these, possibly more, remain held:

• Mohammed al-Gharani, a Chadian national, 15 when he was  detained in Pakistan
• Hassan bin Attash, a Yemeni national, 17 when he was captured in Pakistan
• Yousef al-Shehri, a Saudi Arabian national, 16 when he was captured in Afghanistan

Another detainee, Yassar Talal ‘Abdullah Yahia al-Zahrani from Saudi Arabia, was reportedly 17 when he was detained. He died in Guantánamo in June 2006, apparently by suicide.

In January 2004, three Afghan children were confirmed released. They were between the ages of 13 and 15 at the time of their detention.

Is Guantánamo the only “war on terror” detention centre Amnesty is concerned about? [top]

Guantánamo Bay – the final holding location for the so-called “worst of the worst” – is part of an extensive detention system operated by the US, with the cooperation of numerous allies. During military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military has taken more than 50,000 people into custody. In Afghanistan, the US has operated some 25 detention facilities, and in Iraq another 17. The US recently acknowledged the existence of further secret detention sites holding an unknown number of detainees.

Amnesty’s concerns about torture and ill-treatment, indefinite detention without charge, and lack of due process extend to the entire “war on terror” detention system.

What is the Canadian’s government’s position on Guantánamo Bay? [top]

Unlike governments such as the United Kingdom, Canada has yet to condemn the conditions at Guantánamo Bay nor has it taken any significant action to protect the rights of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, the only minor (at the time of his detention) to be brought before the blatantly unfair Military Commission process.

What have other governments said about Guantánamo Bay? [top]

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, January 7, 2006, "An institution like Guantanamo can and should not exist in the longer term."

Dermot Ahern, Irish foreign minister, February 23, 2006 "The issue of this facility in the long term, medium and short term indeed is that it should be closed."

Margaret Beckett, UK Foreign Secretary, October 13, 2006 "The continuing detention without fair trial of prisoners is unacceptable in terms of human rights. But it is also ineffective in terms of counter-terrorism."

Jean-David Levitte, French ambassador to the USA, February 21, 2006 'Guantanamo is an embarrassment, and so it has to be solved one way or the other, it is necessary to have the people in Guantanamo get a fair trial.'

European Parliament, February 2006 “[The European Parliament] calls on the US Administration to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility and insists that every prisoner should be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and tried without delay in a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, impartial tribunal.”

Jan Eliason, Swedish Foreign Minister, June 10, 2006 "The USA should close Guantanamo and transfer the detainees to proper court proceedings."

Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Interior Minister, Saudi Arabia, June 26, 2006."Of course we support this [the closure of Guantánamo] and hopefully all the Saudis there will be returned to their homeland."

4 December 2006