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RIGHTS: 'Europe Turning Away Guantanamo People'
"In a letter sent to the European Parliament this week, John Bellinger, legal adviser to the U.S. State Department, said that around 25 of the 275 people still being held in the controversial camp have been "cleared for release or transfer but cannot be repatriated because of long-standing human rights concerns with respect to their countries of origin."
According to Bellinger, European Union member states have been approached by the U.S. on a bilateral basis over the past 12 months with requests that they accept some of these detainees. So far, however, this effort has not resulted in any transfers, he said.
Despite being highly critical of how the U.S. has conducted its 'war on terror', human rights advocates have argued that European governments should respond favourably to the U.S. request.
Emi Maclean from the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York said it is "understandable" how many in Europe feel the "U.S. should independently undig the hole it has dug" in using Guantanamo Bay for the detention of people who have never been charged with a criminal offence. Yet, she argued, European governments should act because "human lives are at stake", and to "help close an ugly chapter in the Guantanamo story."
RIGHTS: 'Europe Turning Away Guantanamo People'
Human Rights Groups Address European Parliament on Resettlement of Guantanamo Detainees Who Fear Torture in Home Countries | Center for Constitutional Rights
"In a letter sent to the European Parliament this week, John Bellinger, legal adviser to the U.S. State Department, said that around 25 of the 275 people still being held in the controversial camp have been "cleared for release or transfer but cannot be repatriated because of long-standing human rights concerns with respect to their countries of origin."
According to Bellinger, European Union member states have been approached by the U.S. on a bilateral basis over the past 12 months with requests that they accept some of these detainees. So far, however, this effort has not resulted in any transfers, he said.
Despite being highly critical of how the U.S. has conducted its 'war on terror', human rights advocates have argued that European governments should respond favourably to the U.S. request.
Emi Maclean from the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York said it is "understandable" how many in Europe feel the "U.S. should independently undig the hole it has dug" in using Guantanamo Bay for the detention of people who have never been charged with a criminal offence. Yet, she argued, European governments should act because "human lives are at stake", and to "help close an ugly chapter in the Guantanamo story."
RIGHTS: 'Europe Turning Away Guantanamo People'
Human Rights Groups Address European Parliament on Resettlement of Guantanamo Detainees Who Fear Torture in Home Countries | Center for Constitutional Rights
