US judge declares illegal detention of Afghan in Guantanamo

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22 October 2021

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Washington, Oct 22 (Prensa Latina) A federal judge in the United States considered illegal the detention of an Afghan prisoner at the Guantánamo naval base, in southeastern Cuba, The Washington Post reported here.

The magistrate Amit P. Mehta, of this capital, granted an habeas corpus to Asadullah Haroon Gul, one of the 39 incarcerated in the facility occupied by the US against the will of the Cubans.

The decision marks a significant turnaround for those incarcerated in that prison, a global symbol of torture and excesses of the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the newspaper said.

The judicial processes of the detainees at Guantánamo are full of irregularities, many prisoners were denied the right to due process and several were imprisoned for years without charges against them, as civil society organizations denounce.

US President Joe Biden pointed out that he hopes to close this military enclave, where there were about 800 inmates after its opening in 2002 during George W. Bush's term (2001-2009), but has made little progress in that regard.

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said last July that she did not know when the closure of that center could occur, but said they are working to transfer the detainees, 11 of them accused of war crimes, while the rest remain without charges, after almost 20 years of confinement.

For Havana, the facility -which according to allegations became a center of torture- has been illegally located for more than a century in an area of 117.6 square kilometers belonging to the Cuban national territory.