Towards the Closure of Guantanamo

26 | Towards the Closure of Guantanamorequirement that the Government provide a definition of that status for each personheld. In a second stage, the Commission requested the United States to investigateand punish all instances of torture and other ill-treatment. Finally, given the failureof the State to comply with the precautionary measures, the IACHR requested,among other steps, that the detention facility be immediately closed.27. On February 25, 2002, the IACHR received a request for precautionary measures infavor of the 254 detainees who were being held at Guantanamo at that time. Therequest indicated that these detainees were transported by the United States toGuantanamo Bay beginning on or about January 11, 2002 following their capture inAfghanistan in connection with a military operation led by the United States againstthe former Taliban regime in that country and against Al Qaeda. The requestclaimed that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay were at risk of irreparable harmbecause the United States refused to treat them as prisoners of war until acompetent tribunal determined otherwise in accordance with the Third GenevaConvention of 1949. The request also alleged that the detainees had been heldarbitrarily, incommunicado, and for a prolonged period; and that they had beeninterrogated without access to legal counsel. Further, according to the request,certain detainees were at risk of trial and possible death sentences before militarycommissions that failed to comply with established principles of international law.28. On March 12, 2002, the IACHR granted precautionary measures requesting that theUnited States take the “urgent measures necessary to have the legal status of thedetainees determined by a competent tribunal.” 17 The Commission considered that,without this determination, the fundamental and non-derogable rights of thedetainees might not be recognized and guaranteed by the United States. Asindicated above, in the course of monitoring these measures, the Inter-AmericanCommission extended the scope of the precautionary measures on two subsequentoccasions.29. On October 28, 2005, the IACHR required the United States to thoroughly andimpartially investigate and to prosecute and punish all instances of torture andother ill-treatment that could have been perpetrated against detainees atGuantanamo. It also requested that the United States fully respect the nonrefoulementprinciple, which prohibits the transfer and deportation of individuals tocountries where they may run the risk of being tortured, and indicated thatdiplomatic assurances should not be used to avoid this obligation.30. Following the hunger strike initiated in February 2013 by various detainees toprotest their state of indefinite detention, and taking into account the allegations ofwidespread abuse and mistreatment and the failure of the United States to complywith the precautionary measures, on July 23, 2013 the Inter-American Commissiondecided to extend once again, this time on its own initiative, the scope of themeasures. The IACHR requested that the Government of the United States proceed17IACHR, Precautionary Measure 259/02 – Detainees held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay, March 12,2002.Organization of American States | OAS