Biden expects Guantanamo to close before Obama leaves office
US Vice President Joe Biden says he expects the notorious American military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to cease operations before President Barack Obama’s leaves the White House.
“That is my hope and expectation,” Biden told a news conference in Sweden on Thursday.
Obama and key officials within his administration have so far failed to shutter the detention facility and fulfill one of the iconic campaign pledges that the president made during his first presidential campaign in 2008.
Closing down the facility requires bringing dozens of remaining inmates to maximum-security prisons inside the US, a solution Congress has long blocked.
Although Obama can still theoretically override the ban using his powers as the commander-in-chief, White House lawyers and other officials think the president has not been able to develop the legal position or the political sales pitch required to do so.
Congress also opposes the transfer of prisoners to their countries of origin, over concern that released prisoners will return to militant activities.
This makes closing down the facility more complicated as only a handful of countries have voiced readiness to resettle the detainees.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon said that 15 more prisoners were transferred to the United Arab Emirates.
The transfer brings to 61 the population of inmates in the facility, where about 780 inmates have been imprisoned since the administration of former US President George W. Bush set up the facility in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Once transferred, the former detainees are put under close supervision. They are also allowed to attend rehabilitation programs.
The Guantanamo prison and its associated military commissions cost the Pentagon $445 million in fiscal year 2015. That means each of the nearly 80 prisoners left at the facility cost more than $5.5 million per year.
A Senate report in December 2014 revealed that the CIA has used a wide array of sexual abuse techniques and other forms of torture as part of its interrogation methods against Guantanamo prisoners.
Trump’s allies told to avoid racist language making them ‘look like Nazis’
Malcolm X’s daughters sue US police, FBI, CIA over ‘intentional’ killing
Trump’s pick for attorney general accused of sex with minor, drug abuse
US aircraft carrier leaving Red Sea after Yemen's retaliatory missile, drone attacks
Guardians of sky: Iran's indigenous world-class long-range radar systems
VIDEO | Iraq resistance strikes ‘vital’ Israeli target as Tel Aviv asks Baghdad to prevent attacks
Leader to Lebanese nation, resistance: We’re inseparable, we share your pain, suffering
VIDEO | Eurasia Expo 2025 opens golden door to boost Iran’s economy
Nov. 18: ‘Axis of Resistance’ operations against Israeli occupation
Irish airport used to refuel aircraft carrying lethal arms for Israel
VIDEO | Knesset member forced away from podium, expelled after calling Netanyahu ‘serial killer’
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
