Guantanamo Bay

02 Jun 2006

This week Diane Abbott reiterated her call for the immediate closure of Guantanamo Bay. She told the Commons: “We need to demonstrate that when we talk about civil liberties, freedom and enduring international values, it is not just talk but something that we mean.”

Diane said: “In the past week important benchmarks have been set relating to the debate on Guantanamo Bay. First, the UN Committee against Torture has investigated Guantanamo Bay and concluded that the conditions there constitute torture. We have also heard in the past few days that four detainees at Guantanamo have attempted to commit suicide, which gives the lie to the notion that there is nothing wrong with the regime there. Last but not least our Attorney-General has taken the serious step of making a public speech saying that Guantanamo Bay should be closed as a matter of principle.” Diane warned: “When someone in his position with such a distinguished legal career steps up to condemn what is happening in Guantanamo, the House must listen”.

She added: “The Attorney-General is not the only person who has called for the closure of Guantanamo. The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has called for that, as have Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”

Diane explained: “The problem with Guantanamo is partly what happens inside it, partly the dubious legal basis on which the Americans are holding the people and, finally, the negative effect that its very existence has on the war against terror. The Americans would argue that they are entitled to hold the people indefinitely without due process because they are at war. When it is suggested that, if the people are prisoners of war, they should be subject to the Geneva Convention, the Americans refuse to accept that. But they cannot have it both ways. They cannot say that they are holding the people because they are at war, yet refuse to accept that the Geneva Convention applies.”

In a damning attack on US officials Diane said: “The Americans try to say that the conditions are fine and that the complaints of ex-detainees are unfounded, yet even UN officials were not allowed to meet detainees without signing confidentiality agreements. Once the detainees actually leave Guantanamo—as did the British detainees, thankfully, due to the hard work of Lord Goldsmith and others—the stories that we hear about the treatment that they have endured are horrifying.”

Diane went on to call for the Government to facilitate a visit to Guantanamo by a delegation of British MPs. She also called on the Government to do more for British residents who are not necessarily British nationals who find themselves interned in Guantanamo. She said: “I know that it is not the practice of Britain to offer consular services to people who are just British residents, but it is also not the practice of Britain to stand on the side while people are undergoing torture.”

Diane also urged the Prime Minister to take advantage of his special relationship with George W. Bush to raise the issue of Guantanamo in more emphatic and public terms than he has hitherto. She concluded: “We need to demonstrate that when we talk about civil liberties, freedom and enduring international values, it is not just talk but something that we mean. There is much more that our Government and Prime Minister can do to close down Guantanamo once and for all. That would represent an advance in the war against terror.”



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