Guantánamo: Time to end 20 years of contempt for human rights
The world marks 20 years of Guantánamo abuse, injustice and lawlessness today.
My mind goes back to three trips to this surreal and disturbing corner of the world back in 2010.
Flying in and out on flights operated by Air Sunshine (truly).
To a place where at night we bedded down in tents in the incongruously named Camp Justice.
On a base with an absurd open air museum displaying the remnants of boats of Haitian and Cuban refugees who were warehoused here instead of allowed to reach safety.
Where fearless iguanas have more rights than prisoners.
And yet, still where every day begins and ends with the sky painted in a glorious canvas that truly lifts the soul.
Already then it seemed like a human rights nightmare that had been with us forever. But there was hope (as there may be again now) with Obama's (now Biden's) promises, that it would end soon (hope that was sadly short-lived and unmet ten years ago).
And here we are: another decade later. In a world so much in need of human rights progress, it is time to get this one across the finish line.
Today my solidarity and respect lies with Omar Khadr, Mohamedou Ould Salahi and the other survivors who have been to the depths of Guantánamo's despair. They have come out haunted by the faces of inhumanity they confronted but with their own humanity strong and resilient. They are eloquent and courageous in pressing the undeniable need for closure and accountability.
Guantánamo has achieved absolutely nothing and has added to our world only greater resentment and insecurity, trapped in vicious circles of violence and retribution, on top of mountains of injustice and suffering.
If Guantánamo shows us anything it is quite simply that human rights must never be abandoned.
