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US President Joe Biden is urged to immediately close Guantanamo prison. PHOTO/Reuters
WASHINGTON – More than 150 organizations sent letters to the President United States of America (AS) Joe Biden on Wednesday (11/1/2023). Hundreds of those organizations are urging Biden to prioritize closing detention facilities in the Gulf Guantanamo Because.
The letter was signed by 159 organizations from the US and other countries that describe themselves as a “diverse group of non-governmental organizations” working on issues including international human rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, and combating anti-Muslim discrimination. .
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“Long has passed for a major change in the United States’ approach to national and human security, and a meaningful accounting for the full scope of the damage caused by the post-9/11 approach,” said a joint statement of hundreds of organizations, as quoted by Anadolu Agency.
“Closing the Guantanamo detention facility, ending the indefinite military detention of those held there, and never again using military bases for the unlawful mass detention of groups of people are necessary steps to achieve that goal,” the statement continued.
“We urge you to act without delay, and in a fair manner that takes into account the harm done to people who have been held without charge or a fair trial for two decades,” the statement added.
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Meanwhile, a virtual rally was held Wednesday to mark 21 years since the opening of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, which was set up after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to hold terrorist suspects arrested in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
The virtual event was attended by many people from various locations, including activists, lawyers and human rights defenders, who demanded the closure of the famous prison that the US leased from Cuba in 1903 as a coal station and naval base.
Among the speakers were Daphne Eviatar, Director of Human Rights Security at Amnesty International USA, Aliya Hana Hussain, Advocacy Program Manager at the Center for Constitutional Rights and Andy Worthington of the Close Guantanamo campaign and other advocates, along with Lu Aya, co-founder of The Peace Poets , moderators.