Curt Wechsler, The World Can't Wait: January 2025 Archives

"Migrants who are here illegally are criminals, as far as this administration is concerned. I understand the previous administration didn't see it that way, so it's a significant 'culture shift' to recognize law-breakers as criminals, but that's what they are." - White House press secretary Katherine Leavitt

"The concept of indefinite detention is a direct affront to the principles of justice," writes Mansoor Adayfi, artist, activist, and former Guantánamo prisoner. "Holding individuals without charge or trial defies the very foundation of legal systems worldwide. It denies detainees the opportunity to defend themselves and subjects them to years -- sometimes decades -- of suffering with no resolution in sight."

People in orange jumpsuits protest against Guantanamo military prison outside of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 5, 2023 [File: Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz] 

"His immediate release and relocation to a third safe country are long overdue," a group of 12 UN special rapporteurs on arbitrary detention, forced disappearances and other human issues, wrote in their letter to the outgoing president. Biden has one week to effect his promised closure of Guantánamo

Zubaydah is one of the 15 inmates left imprisoned. "There are no outstanding charges or allegations against him that might give rise to legitimate concerns, but there is a moral and legal imperative to act urgently to get him out of Guantánamo," says Helen Duffy, head of Human Rights in Practice. Three others have already been cleared for release. One of them - Muieen Abd Al-Sattar, a Rohingya Burmese man with Pakistani citizenship - was cleared for transfer 15 years ago.

Saturday Jan 11, 3pm
50 United Nations Plaza (at the Simon Bolivar statue)
San Francisco

Contact: Gavrilah Wells

Just after Andy Worthington posted this article, news broke that eleven of the 14 men approved for release from Guantánamo have been resettled in Oman. My article celebrating this news will be published tomorrow, but the photo campaign and the vigils will, of course, be proceeding as planned, because 15 men are still held -- three who have also long been approved for release, three "forever prisoners", never charged, but never approved for release either, and nine others in the military commissions trial system.

With the plight of 14 men who have long been approved for release from Guantánamo but are still held dominating the thoughts of those of us who have spent years -- or decades -- calling for the prison's closure, this coming week -- which includes the 23rd anniversary of the prison's opening, on Saturday January 11 -- is a crucial time for highlighting the need for urgent action from the Biden administration, in the last few weeks before Donald Trump once more occupies the White House, bringing with him, no doubt, a profound antipathy towards any of the men still held, and a hunger for sealing the prison shut as he did during his first term in office.

The U.S. Department of Defense has announced the transfer of 11 Yemeni prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Oman, marking a significant step toward reducing the detainee population at the facility. These detainees, who had been held for over two decades without charges, were transferred after a lengthy and complex diplomatic process. This move follows recent efforts by the Biden administration to shrink the detainee population. However, despite these efforts, concerns remain regarding security risks and the ongoing challenges in finding alternative countries for those still imprisoned. There is still much work to be done to advocate for the release of the remaining prisoners and ensure accountability for past and ongoing injustices.