Neglected Detainees In Guantanamo Still There After 16 Years

Protesters with Witness Against Torture participate in a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, calling for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Protesters with Witness Against Torture participate in a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, calling for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison. AP Photo/Molly Riley
Protesters with Witness Against Torture participate in a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, calling for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Protesters with Witness Against Torture participate in a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, calling for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison. AP Photo/Molly Riley

Neglected Detainees In Guantanamo Still There After 16 Years

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Tomorrow marks the 16th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

While the jail foregrounded a lot of issues around the War on Terror during the Bush administration and early Obama administration, the issue is seldom covered anymore. But there are still 41 prisoners held there.

After the Halloween truck attack in Manhattan last year, President Trump suggested sending domestic terrorists to Guantanamo, but nothing came of it. Also last fall, detainees at the naval facility launched yet another hunger strike after learning of a freeze on prisoner transfers. Officials have reacted differently than in the past, opting to ignore the protest instead of force feeding the detainees.

Every year, groups opposed to the detention center assemble in Washington to protest Guantanamo’s continued operation. Andy Worthington is one of those protesters. He is the co-founder of the Close Guantanamo campaign and author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison.