UN calls for release of tortured Pakistani from Guantanamo

Edited by Pavel Jacomino
2018-03-02 15:52:49

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Guantanamo Bay prisoners in 2007. Photo: Reuters

United Nations, March 2 (RHC)-- A United Nations working group has called for the release of a Pakistani man imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay since 2006, saying his detention violates international human rights.  Ammar Al-Baluchi, a Kuwaiti-born Pakistani citizen also known as Abdul Aziz Ali, was accused of paying money to the 9/11 hijackers, conspiring alongside his uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. 

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said that holding Al-Baluchi in the detention camp is “arbitrary, breaches international human rights law and has no legal basis.”  The group, a part of the UN Human Rights Council, are calling for Al-Baluchi to be compensated, adding that “Mr. al Baluchi has been subject to prolonged detention on discriminatory grounds” and that once released, he should be offered “physical and psychological rehabilitation for the torture he had previously suffered.” 

In December 2017, UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer had condemned Al-Baluchi’s detention as well, having said, “Mr. al-Baluchi has been held in isolation at a severely restricted-access facility at Guantanamo Bay for more than a decade … noise and vibrations are reportedly still being used against him, resulting in constant sleep deprivation and related physical and mental disorders, for which he allegedly does not receive adequate medical attention."
 
The CIA has long been accused of using torture tactics against prisoners since the detention camp was first opened by U.S. President George W. Bush as part of the so-called ‘War on Terror.’  Almost 800 people have been brought to the camp since, the majority of them having been charged with no crime. 

Despite reassurances to shut down Guantanamo Bay by former U.S. President Barack Obama, the camp remains open.  Current U.S. President Donald Trump has, in turn, confirmed he will continue running it, with new prisoners expected to fill the camps soon. 

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    Chinmoy mahato
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    Chinmoy mahato
    04/03/2018 06:57 am

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