WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Joe Biden will seek to close the prison on the US base at Guantanamo Bay following a review process, resuming a project begun under the Obama administration, the White House said Friday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was the “intention” of the Biden administration to close the detention facility, something former president Barack Obama pledged to do within a year shortly after he took office in January 2009.
Psaki gave no timeline, telling reporters that the formal review would be “robust” and would require the participation of officials from the Department of Defense, the Justice Department and other agencies who have not yet been appointed under the new administration.
“There are many players from different agencies who need to be part of this policy discussion about the steps forward,” she said.
Obama ran into intense domestic political opposition when he sought to close the detention center, a notorious symbol of the US fight against terrorism. Biden may have more leeway now that there are only 40 prisoners left and Guantanamo draws much less public attention, though his announcement did draw some immediate criticism.
The US opened the detention center in January 2002 to hold people suspected of ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It became a source of international criticism over the mistreatment of prisoners and the prolonged imprisonment of people without charge.
The announcement of a closure plan was not unexpected. Biden had said as a candidate he supported closing the detention center. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said so as well in written testimony for his Senate confirmation.
“Guantanamo has provided us the capability to conduct law of war detention in order to keep our enemies off the battlefield, but I believe it is time for the detention facility at Guantanamo to close,” Austin said. READ MORE
