SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Demonstrators at a January 12, 2018 Amnesty International protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C. call for the closure of the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
(Photo: Safvan Allahverdi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Amnesty Welcomes Release of Uncharged Guantánamo Detainee, Urges Biden to Free Others
"President Biden must transfer these men before he leaves office, or he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government."
Dec 17, 2024
Human rights defenders led by Amnesty International on Tuesday welcomed the Pentagon's announcement that a Kenyan man imprisoned in the notorious Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba for nearly 18 years without charge or trial has been released and repatriated to Kenya, while imploring U.S. President Joe Biden to transfer other uncharged Gitmo inmates before leaving office next month.
"We welcome the news that Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, who has been indefinitely detained without charge at Guantánamo for more than 17 years, is finally being transferred out of the prison," Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "The U.S. government now has an obligation to ensure that the government of Kenya will respect and protect his human rights."
Twenty-nine men now remain imprisoned at Guantánamo, which became a symbol of deadly torture, extraordinary rendition, illegal indefinite detention, and an allegedly "rigged" military commissions regime during the so-called War on Terror launched after 9/11 by the George W. Bush administration and ongoing to this day.
"Transferring Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu is certainly a move in the right direction, but it isn't enough," Eviatar stressed. "We hope to see more transfers in the coming days. Fifteen men remain who have never been charged with any crimes and have long been cleared by U.S. security agencies to leave Guantánamo, some for more than a decade. As a matter of justice, they should be transferred as soon as possible."
"President Biden must transfer these men before he leaves office, or he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government," Eviatar added. "It has been 23 years; President Biden can, and must, put an end to this now."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
amnesty internationalgeorge w. bushindefinite detentionjoe bidenkenyamohammed abdul malik bajabupentagontortureu.s. militarywar on terrorguantánamo bay
Human rights defenders led by Amnesty International on Tuesday welcomed the Pentagon's announcement that a Kenyan man imprisoned in the notorious Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba for nearly 18 years without charge or trial has been released and repatriated to Kenya, while imploring U.S. President Joe Biden to transfer other uncharged Gitmo inmates before leaving office next month.
"We welcome the news that Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, who has been indefinitely detained without charge at Guantánamo for more than 17 years, is finally being transferred out of the prison," Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "The U.S. government now has an obligation to ensure that the government of Kenya will respect and protect his human rights."
Twenty-nine men now remain imprisoned at Guantánamo, which became a symbol of deadly torture, extraordinary rendition, illegal indefinite detention, and an allegedly "rigged" military commissions regime during the so-called War on Terror launched after 9/11 by the George W. Bush administration and ongoing to this day.
"Transferring Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu is certainly a move in the right direction, but it isn't enough," Eviatar stressed. "We hope to see more transfers in the coming days. Fifteen men remain who have never been charged with any crimes and have long been cleared by U.S. security agencies to leave Guantánamo, some for more than a decade. As a matter of justice, they should be transferred as soon as possible."
"President Biden must transfer these men before he leaves office, or he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government," Eviatar added. "It has been 23 years; President Biden can, and must, put an end to this now."
Human rights defenders led by Amnesty International on Tuesday welcomed the Pentagon's announcement that a Kenyan man imprisoned in the notorious Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba for nearly 18 years without charge or trial has been released and repatriated to Kenya, while imploring U.S. President Joe Biden to transfer other uncharged Gitmo inmates before leaving office next month.
"We welcome the news that Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, who has been indefinitely detained without charge at Guantánamo for more than 17 years, is finally being transferred out of the prison," Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "The U.S. government now has an obligation to ensure that the government of Kenya will respect and protect his human rights."
Twenty-nine men now remain imprisoned at Guantánamo, which became a symbol of deadly torture, extraordinary rendition, illegal indefinite detention, and an allegedly "rigged" military commissions regime during the so-called War on Terror launched after 9/11 by the George W. Bush administration and ongoing to this day.
"Transferring Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu is certainly a move in the right direction, but it isn't enough," Eviatar stressed. "We hope to see more transfers in the coming days. Fifteen men remain who have never been charged with any crimes and have long been cleared by U.S. security agencies to leave Guantánamo, some for more than a decade. As a matter of justice, they should be transferred as soon as possible."
"President Biden must transfer these men before he leaves office, or he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government," Eviatar added. "It has been 23 years; President Biden can, and must, put an end to this now."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.