A UN expert denounces the “inhumane treatment” of the last Guantanamo detainees

Almost constant surveillance, limited access to families, isolation…the treatment of the last 30 detainees at Guantanamo is “Cruel, inhuman and degrading”A UN expert denounced it after the first visit of its kind to the US military prison. After two decades of fruitless requests, the Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Fionnuala Ni Aulin, was finally allowed to make the visit in February.

In a report released on Monday, June 26, she described “Forced cell uprooting, excessive use of means of restraint”And “Structural deficiencies in health, insufficient access to families” And “Arbitrary arrests characterized by persistent violations of the right to a fair trial.”

“The totality of all these practices and neglect (…) have cumulative effects, especially on the dignity, freedoms and basic rights of every prisoner.”

Fionnuala Ni Olin, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism

at a press conference

If the UN expert notes “big improvements” In the detention center, I also felt it Closing this institution remains a priority.. Also welcomed “The openness of the United States and its willingness to lead by example” Allow this visit.

The United States expresses its “disagreement”

In a message accompanying the report, the United States expressed this “dispute” with “many affirmations” From a document that, according to them, “It does not reflect the official position of the United Nations.” “The Special Rapporteur has given us unprecedented access”when “I am confident that the conditions of detention in Guantanamo are humane.”wrote the US ambassador to the Human Rights Council. She explained that the Biden administration “It is actively working to find suitable places for the rest of the detainees who can be transferred.”