FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 8, 2024
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK Celebrates the Release of Eleven Guantanamo Bay Detainees; Continues Demand to Close Gitmo!
CODEPINK celebrates the release of 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, who have been transferred to Oman after being held in the notorious U.S. facility for over twenty years without charges. We’ve organized for the closure of GITMO since its opening and remain hopeful we will see the release of remaining prisoners. GITMO stands as a stark reminder of enduring Islamophobia and the U.S. War on Terror.
At its peak, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility held nearly 800 Muslim men and boys while only nine were ever charged with a crime. The facility quickly became known for it’s torture tactics used on detainees. Fifteen prisoners remain in GITMO, still detained without due process.
In 2022, we marked the 20th anniversary of the Bush administration's "Torture Memos," which sought to justify the use of waterboarding and other forms of violent, so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" against detainees. Despite the widespread human rights abuses detailed in these memos, no one in the Bush administration has been held accountable for their role in the creation or implementation of these policies. Some of those accountable include then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; David Addington, chief of staff and the principal legal adviser to Vice-President Dick Cheney; and John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer.
Earlier this year, a federal jury found CACI Premier Technology, Inc., a Virginia-based government contractor, liable for its role in the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2003-2004. The company was ordered to pay $42 million in damages to three plaintiffs. This landmark case is a step toward accountability, but much more needs to be done.
CODEPINK has been unwavering in its opposition to the illegal detention and torture that has taken place at Guantanamo Bay for the past two decades. The release of these 11 detainees is a positive development, and the recent victory in the lawsuit against CACI represents progress in holding accountable those responsible for war crimes. However, the complete closure of Guantanamo Bay and an end to the illegal practice of torture remain goals in the fight for justice.
We will continue to demand the closure of Guantanamo Bay detention facility on the anniversary of its opening on January 11th in Los Angeles, with the additional demand that all land occupied by the base be returned to the Cuban people.
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