Protesters gather in US capital to demand closure of Gitmo

Hooded demonstrators take part in a rally to call for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC. AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – About 200 protesters in the US capital marked the 11th anniversary Friday of the arrival of inmates at the US-run detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, demanding its immediate closure. The demonstrators marched from the Supreme Court to Congress to the White House in Washington, chanting “Close Guantanamo now!” and “Guantanamo has to go!”

President Barack Obama vowed when he was first elected in 2008 that he would close the prison camp.

But he was thwarted by US lawmakers who passed legislation banning the military from transferring prisoners to the United States for trial or sending them abroad. The United States also had difficulty finding countries willing to take the inmates.

Obama, who appears to have abandoned his plans to shutter the prison, last week reauthorised the law imposing the ban – to the frustration of rights activists who say holding inmates there indefinitely is a violation of their human rights.

“As we approach the inauguration, we’re tired of hearing excuses, solutions must be found,” Zeke Johnson, of Amnesty International USA, said at the demonstration.

“It’s a human rights issue, not a political issue,” he said of the inmates who face no prospects that their indefinite incarceration will come to an end any time soon.

“Try them or release them,” he said, saying the inmates’ continued incarceration is a blight on Obama’s legacy.