[prisoner-rights] UN human rights experts request urgent closure of Guantánamo detention facility

UNITED NATIONS Press Release 
14 June 2006

"The simultaneous suicide of three detainees in the Guantánamo military
base on 10 June 2006 was to a certain extent foreseeable in light of the
harsh and prolonged conditions of their detention and reinforces the need
for the urgent closure of the detention center", the five human rights
experts of the United Nations in charge of following the situation of
Guantánamo detainees said today.

The experts -- the Chairman Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention, Leila Zerrougui; the Special Rapporteur on the independence of
judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy; the Special Rapporteur on torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak;
the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir,
and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of
the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt
-- have repeatedly requested, without success, that the Government of the
United States allow them to interview Guantánamo detainees in private,
according to the terms of reference applicable to all special procedures
for their country visits.

As they were not allowed to carry out such a visit, the five experts
produced a report on 27 February 2006 (E/CN.4/2006/120) in which they
pointed out the arbitrary nature of the detentions; the violation of
judicial guarantees and other elements of the right to a fair trial; the
lack of access to competent and independent tribunals established by law;
the inhuman and degrading nature of the conditions of detention, in
various cases amounting to torture; the harmful impact of those conditions
on the health and life of those persons; and the attacks against the
religious beliefs and dignity of the detainees. They urged that
ill-treatment ceases and that detainees be brought before and tried by
ordinary tribunals. They also insisted upon the importance of allowing the
experts unfettered access to the detention facilities as well as
interviews with detainees in private. Since the issuance of the report and
pursuant to its main recommendation, the experts have repeatedly asked for
the immediate closure of the Guantánamo detention facility.

Given the three suicides on 10 June, the experts wish to draw particular
attention to the report's findings concerning the mental health of
detainees. The report warned that "the treatment of detainees since their
arrests, and the conditions of their confinement, have had profound
effects on the mental health of many of them" (paragraph 71). The report
also concluded: "The totality of the conditions of their confinement at
Guantanamo Bay constitute a right to health violation because they derive
from a breach of duty and have resulted in profound deterioration of the
mental health of many detainees" (paragraph 92).

The suicides of 10 June confirm the relevance of the report's
recommendations and the urgency for their implementation.

Many of the detainees continue to carry out a prolonged hunger strike to
protest against their conditions of detention, while others have attempted
to commit suicide. The experts await the judgment of the United States
Supreme Court in the Hamdan case. A ruling on this matter could have far
reaching consequences for the protection of human rights in times of
emergencies, conflicts and global tension. At the same time the experts
recall the need for norms of fair trial and access to detainees to be
ensured in counter-terrorism measures in all instances.

In this context, the experts reiterate their request for the immediate
closure of the Guantánamo detention facility.