Note: This statement was updated on December 18, 2024 to include the two men who have been transferred to the Malaysian government.
In response to the U.S. Government transferring three detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security with Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, made the following statement:
“We welcome the news that three men who have been indefinitely detained at Guantanamo for decades are finally being transferred out of the prison. The U.S. government now has an obligation to ensure that the governments of Malaysia and Kenya, the countries where the men were transferred, will respect and protect their human rights.
“Transferring these men is certainly a move in the right direction, but it isn’t enough. Fifteen men remain who have never been charged with any crimes and have long been cleared by U.S. security agencies to leave Guantanamo, some for more than a decade.
“President Biden must transfer these men before he leaves office, or he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government. It has been 23 years; President Biden can, and must, put an end to this now.”
Additional information:
- The military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay is a glaring, longstanding stain on the human rights record of the United States. Today, it continues to hold 27 Muslim men, most without facing charges or a trial.
- As one of its five asks to President Biden before he leaves office, Amnesty International USA has asked him to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo and close the detention facilities.
- In 2021 Amnesty International released a report highlighting ongoing human rights violations at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.
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