Durbin Leads 17 Senators In Urging President Biden To Act Swiftly To Close The Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility

Letter

Dear President Biden:
Many of us wrote to you early in your presidency to applaud your pledge to “put universal rights
and strengthening democracy at the center of our efforts to meet the challenges of the 21st
century.” We noted that a critical step toward doing so is closing the detention facility at U.S.
Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. We support your renewed commitment before the United
Nations Human Rights Committee this fall to ending indefinite detention at Guantánamo.
We remain concerned that this detention facility, which has long been a symbol of lawlessness
and human rights abuses, continues to harm U.S. national security by weakening our standing in
the world, serving as a propaganda tool for America’s enemies, and hindering counterterrorism
cooperation with allies. At a time of mounting threats from China and Russia, we cannot afford
such a weakening of our security. Moreover, in addition to the $540 million in wasted taxpayer
dollars each year, the prison comes at the price of justice for the victims of 9/11 and their
families, who are still—more than two decades after 9/11—waiting for trials to begin.
January 11 marked the 22nd anniversary of Guantánamo’s opening. Nearly 100 human rights,
immigrants’ rights, racial justice, and anti-Muslim discrimination organizations wrote to you
ahead of this anniversary expressing “deep concern about how little progress your administration
has made over the last year towards responsibly closing the Guantánamo detention center.” We
share this concern. There are now only 30 men remaining in detention at Guantánamo —more
than half of whom have not been charged with any crime and have been approved by our
national security leadership for transfer out of Guantánamo. Some of these men have been
approved for transfer for years, and at least one has been approved for transfer for more than a
decade, yet these 16 men have continued to languish in indefinite detention.
We understand that much of the delay in transferring these men has been caused by unstable
conditions in their countries of nationality. We applaud the extremely difficult and time consuming diplomatic efforts of your administration to locate suitable transfer countries for these
men. Any potential risks associated with such transfers must be balanced against the certain and
immeasurable damage caused to our security, our standing in the world, and the rule of law each
day that Guantánamo remains open.
Continuing to imprison men who have never been charged with a crime and who have been
approved for release is inconsistent with American values. No country can hold people for
decades without charge or trial and claim to be dedicated to the rule of law.
With just a year left in your first term, now is the time for our nation to summon the courage of
its convictions and follow-through on our longstanding commitment to human rights and the rule
of law. After years of holding people in indefinite detention without charge or trial; a history of
torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; and multiple attempts at a thoroughly failed
and discredited military commission process, it is past time to close Guantánamo’s detention
facility. We urge you to act swiftly to do so.