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Published: Wednesday | January 11, 20120 Comments
SAN JUAN (AP):
Suleiman al-Nahdi waits with dozens of other prisoners in a seemingly permanent state of limbo five years after he was cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay.
"I wonder if the US government wants to keep us here forever," the 37-year-old al-Nahdi wrote in a recent letter to his lawyers.
Open for 10 years today, the prison seems more established than ever. The deadline set by President Barack Obama to close Guantanamo came and went two years ago. No detainee has left in a year because of restrictions on transfers, and indefinite military detention is now enshrined in US law.
The 10th anniversary will be the subject of demonstrations in London and Washington. Prisoners at the US Navy base in Cuba plan to mark the day with sit-ins, banners and a refusal of meals, said Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer who represents seven inmates.
"They would like to send a message that the prisoners of Guantanamo still reject the injustice of their imprisonment," said Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York.
Human-rights groups and lawyers for prisoners are dismayed that Obama not only failed to overcome resistance in Congress and close the prison, but that his administration has resumed military tribunals at the base and continues to hold men like al-Nahdi who have been cleared for release.
Critics are also angry over the president's December 31 signing of the National Defence Authorisation Act, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial.
SAN JUAN (AP):
Suleiman al-Nahdi waits with dozens of other prisoners in a seemingly permanent state of limbo five years after he was cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay.
"I wonder if the US government wants to keep us here forever," the 37-year-old al-Nahdi wrote in a recent letter to his lawyers.
Open for 10 years today, the prison seems more established than ever. The deadline set by President Barack Obama to close Guantanamo came and went two years ago. No detainee has left in a year because of restrictions on transfers, and indefinite military detention is now enshrined in US law.
The 10th anniversary will be the subject of demonstrations in London and Washington. Prisoners at the US Navy base in Cuba plan to mark the day with sit-ins, banners and a refusal of meals, said Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer who represents seven inmates.
"They would like to send a message that the prisoners of Guantanamo still reject the injustice of their imprisonment," said Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York.
Human-rights groups and lawyers for prisoners are dismayed that Obama not only failed to overcome resistance in Congress and close the prison, but that his administration has resumed military tribunals at the base and continues to hold men like al-Nahdi who have been cleared for release.
Critics are also angry over the president's December 31 signing of the National Defence Authorisation Act, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial.