LONDON - Sharqawi Al Hajj is a man detained at the US military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, writes Pardiss Kebriaei in the London-based Guardian.
I have been his lawyer for many years. This week marks 22 years since the prison was opened, and Sharqawi’s 20th year inside. He is one of 30 men still detained there, down from nearly 800 ever held. This trajectory is because Guantánamo, though not singular among prisons in its harsh treatment and arbitrary detention, was at least for a time very overt in its extremeness, and what could be seen more plainly than usual caused a reaction.
By the time of Barack Obama’s presidency, seven years after Guantánamo opened and 15 years ago looking back, the United States’ position was that the prison should be closed – within one year.
The commander who set up the prison wrote an op-ed saying it should never have been opened. There was an international outcry, with the UN and the European parliament and countries around the world issuing condemnations.
So there are reasons for the emptying of this prison from hundreds to a few remaining, and for the long-standing position of the United States and the international community that it should be closed for good. The 30 men left are in a degraded, vacant complex.
Guantánamo is a horrible relic of the past, with the 30 inside still bearing its legacy. The steps needed for true closure are obvious, yet stuck. Like the majority of those still there, Sharqawi is cleared for release from Guantanamo.
