TEHRAN (FNA)- Prisoners who have been held for years by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility are showing signs of “accelerated ageing”, a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.
Patrick Hamilton, the ICRC’s head of delegation for the US and Canada, said on Friday that the “physical and mental health needs are growing and becoming increasingly challenging” for those still imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Al-Jazeera reported.
“We’re calling on the US administration and Congress to work together to find adequate and sustainable solutions to address these issues,” Hamilton said in a statement.
“Action should be taken as a matter of priority,” he added.
The Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba was established by US Republican Party President George W Bush in 2002 to house foreign suspects following the 2001 plane attacks on New York and the Pentagon, which killed some 3,000 people.
The camp came to symbolise the brutality of the US’s so-called “war on terror” because of harsh interrogation methods that critics have said amounted to torture.
Hamilton’s comments on the health of the prisoners came after a visit to the facility in March following a 20-year hiatus. He said he was “struck by how those who are still detained today are experiencing the symptoms of accelerated ageing, worsened by the cumulative effects of their experiences and years spent in detention”.
He called for detainees to receive adequate mental and physical healthcare as well as more frequent family contact.
The US defence department “is currently reviewing the report”, a Pentagon spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.
There were 40 detainees at Guantanamo when US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021. The Biden administration has said it wants to close the facility but has not presented a plan for doing so. About 30 detainees remain at the prison.
Two Pakistani brothers held at Guantanamo Bay without trial for more than 20 years were freed by the US in February and returned home. Abdul, 55, and Mohammed Rabbani, 53, were reunited with their families after a formal questioning by Pakistani authorities.
Hamilton called on Washington to resolve the fate of the detainees, urging action to transfer out those eligible.
US releases Algerian detainee from Guantanamo Bay prison
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
22 April, 2023
Bakush's release from the notorious Cuban prison brings down Guantanamo Bay's population to 30 detainees.
Of them 16 are eligible for transfer and the Pentagon and State Department are seeking countries to accept them.
Another three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board assessment, while nine are facing charges under military commissions and two have been convicted in such commissions.
Guantanamo Bay detainee transferred to Algeria, fuelling hopes of facility's closure
Brooke Anderson
Washington, D.C.
22 April, 2023
The US has transferred a detainee from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre to his home country of Algeria, fuelling hopes that the controversial facility could soon be closed.
A longtime Guantanamo Bay detainee from Algeria has been transferred to his home country, fuelling hopes the controversial facility could soon be closed.
News of the release of Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush, also known as Abdul Razak Ali, has highlighted the ongoing debate over the continued use of the detention facility in Cuba which has symbolised US hypocrisy on its human rights record.
Like former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden promised to close the notorious detention centre while campaigning for office.
Guantanamo held 684 detainees in June 2003, but the outflow of detainees has seen their number shrink to just 30 - a fact critics of the facility hope means its end is near.
According to recent news reports, Biden has been looking at options for finally closing Guantanamo Bay down before the end of his current presidential term.
Bakush was captured in Pakistan in March 2002. He was living at a house linked with several men affiliated with Al Qaeda. He claims he was the victim of mistaken identity.
The US government determined last April that he was cleared for transfer, following its Periodic Review Board process.
"We welcome this latest transfer and continue to urge the Biden administration to finally close this symbol of injustice that has stained the international reputation of our nation for far too long," said Robert McCaw, government affairs director with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a public statement.
"Only the release of all cleared detainees and the closure of the entire facility will end this dark chapter in American history," he added.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
22 April, 2023
Bakush's release from the notorious Cuban prison brings down Guantanamo Bay's population to 30 detainees.
The US military said on Thursday that it had released an Algerian held at the Guantanamo prison for two decades, leaving 30 men still held extrajudicially at the US navy base in Cuba.
The Pentagon said Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush was transferred to Algeria after an official decision on his release was made earlier this year.
Detaining Bakush, 52, was deemed "no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States," the Pentagon said in a statement.
Bakush was apprehended in 2002 in Faisalabad, Pakistan as the US swept up hundreds of suspected Al-Qaeda operatives and fighters in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States by the group.
Although never seen as more than a low-level Al-Qaeda fighter not directly connected to the 9/11 plot, he was nevertheless held since then at the prison on the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Like fellow prisoners, he was deemed an enemy combatant without recourse to the US justice system.
With Bakush's release, 30 detainees remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800.
The Pentagon said Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush was transferred to Algeria after an official decision on his release was made earlier this year.
Detaining Bakush, 52, was deemed "no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States," the Pentagon said in a statement.
Bakush was apprehended in 2002 in Faisalabad, Pakistan as the US swept up hundreds of suspected Al-Qaeda operatives and fighters in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States by the group.
Although never seen as more than a low-level Al-Qaeda fighter not directly connected to the 9/11 plot, he was nevertheless held since then at the prison on the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Like fellow prisoners, he was deemed an enemy combatant without recourse to the US justice system.
With Bakush's release, 30 detainees remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800.
RELATEDWorldBrooke Anderson
Of them 16 are eligible for transfer and the Pentagon and State Department are seeking countries to accept them.
Another three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board assessment, while nine are facing charges under military commissions and two have been convicted in such commissions.
Guantanamo Bay detainee transferred to Algeria, fuelling hopes of facility's closure
Brooke Anderson
Washington, D.C.
22 April, 2023
The US has transferred a detainee from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre to his home country of Algeria, fuelling hopes that the controversial facility could soon be closed.
A longtime Guantanamo Bay detainee from Algeria has been transferred to his home country, fuelling hopes the controversial facility could soon be closed.
News of the release of Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush, also known as Abdul Razak Ali, has highlighted the ongoing debate over the continued use of the detention facility in Cuba which has symbolised US hypocrisy on its human rights record.
Like former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden promised to close the notorious detention centre while campaigning for office.
Guantanamo held 684 detainees in June 2003, but the outflow of detainees has seen their number shrink to just 30 - a fact critics of the facility hope means its end is near.
According to recent news reports, Biden has been looking at options for finally closing Guantanamo Bay down before the end of his current presidential term.
RELATEDWorldThe New Arab Staff & Agencies
Bakush was captured in Pakistan in March 2002. He was living at a house linked with several men affiliated with Al Qaeda. He claims he was the victim of mistaken identity.
The US government determined last April that he was cleared for transfer, following its Periodic Review Board process.
"We welcome this latest transfer and continue to urge the Biden administration to finally close this symbol of injustice that has stained the international reputation of our nation for far too long," said Robert McCaw, government affairs director with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a public statement.
"Only the release of all cleared detainees and the closure of the entire facility will end this dark chapter in American history," he added.
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