WASHINGTON, April 8 (RIA Novosti) – The US should act to speed up the return of 56 Yemeni prisoners cleared for release from the Guantanamo detention center, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday in an open letter to US President Barack Obama.
“We write to urge you to expedite the repatriation of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to their home country of Yemen,” the letter read.
Reminding the US president of his 2008 promise to close the Guantanamo detention center, the rights organization stated “the return of Yemeni detainees to Yemen is an essential component of any plan to close the detention facility.”
From 76 prisoners recommended by the Obama administration for transfer from Guantanamo, 56 are citizens of Yemen.
“We recognize that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula poses a security threat in Yemen,” Human Rights Watch said, highlighting that the detained Yemenis recommended for transfer pose no greater threat than others in Yemen.
“Speculative concern that these men could join militant groups in the future … is no reason to keep them detained without charge or trial,” the letter stated.
The rights organization added in its letter that “prolonged detention of people based solely on their country of origin runs counter to US values and sets a dangerous example for other countries.”
Since it was established in 2002, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has been the target of criticism by human rights activists and many international government officials, who have condemned its controversial interrogation methods and the dubious legality of holding prisoners indefinitely without charging them with crimes.
Russia has repeatedly condemned human rights violations at Guantanamo.
A Russian delegation led by Konstantin Dolgov, the foreign ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, visited the US military jail in January to meet a Russian prisoner and to convince Washington that the facility must be closed down as soon as possible.
To this end, Russia drafted a resolution on the integrity of justice systems around the globe that was approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March, but was not accepted by the US.
The Russian mission to the UN later commented that the “US voted against the resolution due to the practice of illegal detention at Guantanamo.”
