More than 150 organisations urge Biden to close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON: More than 150 organisations sent a letter to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday urging him to "prioritise closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

The letter was signed by 159 organisations from the US and other countries who called themselves a "diverse group of non-governmental organisations" working on issues including international human rights, immigrants' rights, racial justice and combatting anti-Muslim discrimination, Anadolu Agency reported.

"It is long past time for both a sea change in the United States' approach to national and human security, and a meaningful reckoning with the full scope of damage that the post-9/11 approach has caused. Closing the Guantanamo detention facility, ending indefinite military detention of those held there, and never again using the military base for unlawful mass detention of any group of people are necessary steps towards those ends," they wrote in the letter.

"We urge you to act without delay, and in a just manner that considers the harm done to the men who have been detained indefinitely without charge or fair trials for two decades," they added.

Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency also reported a virtual rally was held Wednesday to mark 21 years since the opening of the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, which was created after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to hold terrorist suspects captured in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

The virtual event was attended by many people from different locations, including activists, lawyers and human rights advocates, who demanded the closure of the notorious prison which the US leased from Cuba in 1903 as a coaling station and naval base, it added.

The detention camp, also known as "Gitmo," has held roughly 780 detainees since it was opened, most of them without charge or trial, with many said to have gone through unspeakable horrors.

Currently, 35 detainees remain and 20 of them are eligible for transfer.

-- BERNAMA