Joe Biden under pressure to release ‘forever prisoner’ from Guantánamo Bay
Joe Biden under pressure to release ‘forever prisoner’ from Guantánamo Bay
UN experts call on US president in his final week in office to free Abu Zubaydah, who was detained 23 years ago in the aftermath of 9/11
A panel of UN experts and a group of 100 legal and human rights scholars have written to the president appealing to him to pardon the 53-year-old prisoner, the first 9/11 detainee to be tortured at the CIA global network of secret prisons.
“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.
“Mr Abu Zubaydah suffers serious health conditions, including from injuries sustained during torture that are allegedly exacerbated by the denial of medical attention. In addition, lawyer-client communication has been seriously impeded,” they said.
he was subjected to physical abuse until he “didn’t know who he was any more”.
He was initially described by the US as one of al-Qaida’s top leaders, but later US intelligence assessments conceded he probably knew nothing of the 9/11 attacks and may not even have been a member of al-Qaida.
Well. I bet he will be now. Better keep him then.
/s
Btw, didn’t Biden’s former boss try to close GITMO?
Executive Order 13492, titled Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities, is an Executive Order that was signed by United States President Barack Obama on 22 January 2009, ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.
We couldn’t get this done in the last four years either?
Would a pardon actually do anything if he is being held without charge?
I mean, if it will finally serve justice and free him, then do it. But if it is not necessary, then why wait? Just let him go already.