With the aim of closing this controversial facility in Cuba, the government of US President Joe Biden has launched a formal review of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. With the White House sources, Reuters reported.
According to two Reuters sources, advisers attending the meeting behind closed doors said Biden could sign executive orders in the coming weeks or months to close the facility. Emily Horn, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council (NSC), said a post-state review was underway and that the Biden government was closing down Guantanamo Bay. He added that the NSC would work closely with the Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Justice, as well as Congress.
However, Reuters reports that the prison is unlikely to close anytime soon, despite Biden’s intentions. Guantanamo was established by the United States under President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. More than 750 people were detained on suspicion of terrorism, but most of them were never charged. Bush’s successor Barack Obama, Biden’s vice president, decided to close the prison, but failed, although the number of prisoners was greatly reduced. Shortly after taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump issued an order to open the prison. But he did not fill it with other prisoners as he had previously promised. There are now 40 prisoners in Guantanamo, most of whom have been without charge for nearly twenty years.
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