President Obama and President Hadi of Yemen to Meet Today on Guantanamo: CCR Calls for Immediate Resumption of Transfers

August 1, 2013, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) released the following statement in anticipation of President Obama’s meeting with President Hadi of Yemen at the White House regarding the Yemeni-nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay:
 
As President Obama and President Hadi of Yemen meet at the White House, we call on both leaders to work together to immediately resume transfers of the Yemeni men detained at Guantánamo. Eighty-nine of the 166 men detained at Guantanamo are from Yemen – the single largest national group at the facility by far.  More than half of the Yemenis – 56 – were approved for transfer more than three years ago by the nation’s top national security agencies. Yet they continue to languish at the prison, many on hunger strike and in solitary confinement, subjected to painful force-feedings and humiliating genital searches that have been widely condemned.   Their continued detention – particularly under these inhumane conditions – must end now.

In May, President Obama lifted his longstanding, self-imposed moratorium on transfers to Yemen.  Ending what was a policy of open discrimination against the Yemenis was an important gesture. The time for gestures, however, has long passed: Lifting the moratorium is meaningless if President Obama does not actually begin repatriating detainees to Yemen without further delay. Indications that Yemen may establish a rehabilitation center for repatriated men in the future should not be an excuse for further delaying transfers of Yemeni men now.  There are cleared Yemenis who can be returned immediately and seamlessly with the ready support of their families.

We urge President Hadi to insist that President Obama use his authority under the National Defense Authorization Act to process Yemeni prisoners – his own people – for immediate release. President Obama can begin with men like Fahd Ghazy, Tariq Ba Odah, and Sabry Mohammed, whom the administration has already approved for transfer, and Ghaleb Al-Bihani, who is acutely ill. These men have been unjustly detained at Guantánamo without charge for more than 11 years – roughly one-third of their lives. If President Obama is to retain any moral authority, he should reunite these men with their families so they can begin rebuilding their lives in dignity. 
 
The Center for Constitutional Rights has led the legal battle over Guantánamo for the last 11 years – representing clients in two Supreme Court cases and organizing and coordinating hundreds of pro bono lawyers across the country, ensuring that nearly all the men detained at Guantánamo have had the option of legal representation. Among other Guantánamo cases, the Center represents the families of men who died at Guantánamo, and men who have been released and are seeking justice in international courts. In addition, CCR has been working through diplomatic channels to resettle men who remain at Guantánamo because they cannot return to their country of origin for fear of persecution and torture.

The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.

 

Last modified 

January 3, 2014