Moments before he stepped onto the podium for his first State of the Union address, President Trump signed an Executive Order to keep the military prison at Guantánamo Bay open. This order revoked President Obama’s Executive Order to close Guantánamo Bay, signed during his early days in office. Instead of continuing the work to close the Guantánamo detention facility, the Trump administration is keeping this detention facility open, which continues to hold 40 Muslim men indefinitely, most without charge, and many of whom were tortured by the US government. One detainee, Toffiq al-Bihani, was among those tortured by the CIA before he was sent to Guantánamo in 2003, where he has since languished without charge or trial. He has been cleared for transfer since 2010. Toffiq is one of five detainees at Guantanamo who have been cleared for transfer to other countries for many years, yet remain imprisoned indefinitely. Guantánamo is an all-too-easy location for future abuses by the US government to occur. This detention facility should be shut down once and for all. Help us fight for the prison’s closure, and for the transfer of all cleared detainees to countries that will respect their human rights.
