Lib Dems demand action to close Guantanamo Bay detention centre
March 25, 2010 1:50 PM
Sarah Teather MP and Sarah Ludford MEP at Guantanamo Bay vigil
Following a European Parliament debate on progress in closing Guantanamo and resettling detainees, Sarah Ludford MEP said: "MEPs have spent many years calling for the closure of Guantanamo, so we warmly welcomed the announcement by President Obama to close it by January 22nd 2010. While understanding the difficulties in unravelling the mess left by George Bush, the delays which mean nearly 200 men remain there are extremely frustrating."
Lady Ludford, a member of the justice & civil liberties committee and human rights sub-committee of the parliament, is a long-term campaigner against Guantanamo, torture, rendition and other 'war on terror' abuses. She was the EP rapporteur on Guantanamo from 2003 and was instigator and vice-chair of the European Parliament temporary committee on 'extraordinary rendition' which reported 3 years ago.
She added: "We strongly dispute the intention to keep 47 men in indefinite detention without charge in a US prison, under Bush era powers which Congress has never approved. Guantanamo represents a huge violation of international law and of human rights and it must not just be relocated onto US soil. We will continue to push EU governments to take more detainees for resettlement who cannot safely return to their home countries. This is their duty both out of transatlantic solidarity and out of guilt at their own complicity. Chinese threats concerning resettled Uighurs, who in China have long been an oppressed group, must be given short shrift."
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