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World Figures Demands Closing of US Torture Centers More and more voices are joining the international movement to close the prison at the illegally-occupied US naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba. In statements in Panama, Florentin Melendez, second vice president of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, described as “legitimate” the world demand to shut the facility down. Melendez, who is also a UN special rapporteur on the torture and mistreatment of inmates, told the Prensa Latina agency that the days of the US prison are numbered. The Pentagon keeps some 490 prisoners at Guantanamo, labeling them “illegal combatants” suspected of terrorism so as to avoid recognizing them as Prisoners of War, thus denying them the rights associated with that status. The prisoners were brought to the US base in 2002 from Afghanistan, where they allegedly belonged to the Taliban regime or to the terrorist Al Qaeda organization. The immediate release of those prisoners, who have been submitted to torture, as well as the closing of the prison is being demanded in an international call titled “Cease the Hypocrisy on the Issue of Human Rights,” which has been published on Internet since last March 14 in defense of Humankind. The plea urges all people to demand the Human Rights Commission, scheduled to begin sessions in Geneva soon, to call for the closing of that detention center and all others which the US has set up around the world. The international appeal also demands the end of the European Union-US conspiracy of “renditions,” which have involved the transporting to Europe or other continents hundreds of suspects or those who oppose the Bush administration. The document also requests that the European Union consider the charges submitted by European citizens who have been submitted to torture in US prisons and deprived of guarantees established by international law. Over 4,000 world figures and representatives of 80 human rights organizations have signed the international call. --------------------------------------------------- Please help our fight against the New World Order by giving a donation. As bandwidth costs increase, the only way we can stay online and expand is with your support. Please consider giving a monthly or one-off donation for whatever you can afford. You can pay securely by either credit card or Paypal. Click here to donate. |
