On the eighth anniversary of the first transfers to Guantánamo, leading human rights organisations yesterday urged more European countries to accept detainees held at the US detention centre at Guantánamo who cannot be returned to their countries of origin for fear of torture or other human rights violations.

Countries like Germany, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg are being asked to do more to aid the transfer of roughly 50 such men who remain trapped after years of unlawful detention.

Amnesty International US Campaigner Sharon Critoph said:

Although several countries have already led the way, it is disappointing that only a few European governments have stepped forward to help those in need of protection.

Amongst those governments which have failed to assist are those previously most vocal in calling for Guantánamo to be closed.

The call coincides with fresh efforts to secure the release of two Guantánamo prisoners with links to the UK – Shaker Aamer (41), a Saudi Arabian national formerly resident in the UK, and Ahmed Belbacha (40), an Algerian, formerly living in Britain. There are fears that both men would be at risk of human rights abuses if forcibly returned to Algeria.

Amnesty, Reprieve and the CCR are stressing that 50 men remain detained for the sole reason that they have no safe place to go.

They have been essentially abandoned at Guantánamo. The plight of these men poses one of the most significant obstacles to the closure of the detention centre.

Meanwhile, a number of European countries offered a safe haven to such detainees, in line with the stated aims of the EU-US joint agreement on the closure of Guantánamo. These include France, Ireland, Portugal, Hungary and Belgium.

There are 198 prisoners still held in Guantánamo. Since mid-June 2009 only seven former Guantánamo detainees have been returned to Europe as free men.

A further ten have been sent to Palau and Bermuda, and two have been transferred to Italy for possible trial. Approximately 50 more still urgently need protection.

From a press release

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