More than 150 civil rights groups in the US have called on the Joe Biden administration to close the military prison on illegally occupied territory in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Twenty-one years after former President George W. Bush opened the prison and 13 years after then-ruling Barack Obama signed an executive order to dismantle it, activists called on the current administration to “act immediately” to end it, reports Prensa Latina.
The signatories denounced that some 779 people had been detained there since 2002, and many had been denied formal charges or a trial.
“The Guantanamo Bay illegal detention center housed about 800 Muslim men and boys, most of whom have never been charged with a crime. Today there are still 36 prisoners languishing there,” said Codepink, quoted by Telesur.
Activists noted that Witness Against Torture met in Washington, DC for the first time since 2020 to publicly call on President Biden and Congress to shut down the base.