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Afghans call on US to close notorious Guantanamo prison

Saturday, 23 January 2016 2:16 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 23 January 2016 2:18 PM ]

Afghans stage a gathering in Kabul to call for the closure of the Guantanamo prison. (File photo)

Afghan people have staged a protest outside the US embassy in Kabul, urging Washington to immediately close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, PressTV reports.

During their gathering on Saturday, the Afghan protesters also condemned the torture of inmates at the military detention camp, describing Guantanamo prison as an illegal jail where most prisoners are being treated inhumanely.

They called on the US government to provide the Afghan inmates with lawyers so that they can defend themselves before the court.

The protesters, some dressed in orange uniforms like the captives at Guantanamo prison, were holding banners that said “Close Guantanamo” and “Guantanamo a shame on Human Rights.”

They also blamed US President Barack Obama for not fulfilling his promises during the 2008 election campaign to close down the notorious prison.

Demonstrators take part in a protest calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison in front of the White House in Washington, DC on January 11, 2016. © AFP

The Guantanamo Bay was set up following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center complex in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

During his election campaign in 2008, Obama pledged to shut down the jail. In 2009, Obama also signed an executive order to close the prison within one year. But seven years on, the facility remains open.

As many as 775 detainees were brought to the prison. There are now some 105 detainees left at the prison.

The Obama administration has transferred most prisoners to other countries, but there is a small number of inmates whom the administration says it would like to keep in a US facility for national security reasons.

Washington says the prisoners are terror suspects, but has not pressed charges against most of them in any court.

Congress has explicitly banned the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners from Cuba to US soil.

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