Seeking an Exit From the Web of Terror

No longer just a litany started by the prisoners of Camp Delta at the base in Guantanamo, the praying has gotten louder. It has become a shout of desperation.

The arrival of five international journalists was an opportunity for them — the prisoners of the war on terror that was launched two years earlier by George Bush following the September 11 attacks — to express their suffering.

At that time, December 2003, there were 660 prisoners from 44 countries who were accused of — but never formally charged with — participating in terrorist activities linked to the al-Qaida network. They languished in a judicial limbo in which the laws of the U.S., Cuba and all other countries did not pertain. They were interrogated for up to 16 hours per day. Commander Jerry Cannon, then head of the camp, explained that there was never any intention of rehabilitating them, noting that the goal was to extract information that the U.S. could use to win the global war on terror.

Barack Obama arrived at the White House in January 2009, having promised to close the camp. He couldn’t. The testimonies were extracted under torture and could not be used in U.S. courts. Efforts were made to have them tried at the base in Guantanamo. The appeals and problems in the process led nowhere. The only solution would be to release them under mandatory supervision. Some prisoners were returned to the countries of origin. But some nations refused to take the men back. To this day, 154 prisoners remain there.

And here is where third countries that could offer protected asylum, such as Uruguay or New Zealand, come in. President José Mujica said he is willing to receive six prisoners who would have “unrestricted freedom.”* After ten years at Guantanamo none of these men appears “a priori” to be a security risk. But some have noted that Uruguay’s proximity to the Triple Border countries (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay) might be a risk for reactivating them. Yesterday’s conversation in Washington between Obama and Mujica could shed light on 154 men who are still trapped in the web that is Guantanamo.

*This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.