Worldwide clamor
for closure of U.S. prison on Guantánamo
NEW YORK, February 20.—Government leaders,
politicians, the media and academics from all over
the world have joined forces to demand the closure
of the prison maintained by the United States in the
base that it illegally occupies in Guantánamo, Cuba.
The New York Times affirmed that the United
States should close down its detention center in
Guantánamo, thus joining the international call for
Washington to close down that prison, AFP reports.
In Brussels, René van der Linden, president of
the Council of Europe Parliament, gave his full
support to a report by five UN experts condemning
the detention practices being used by the United
States in Guantánamo, ANSA notes.
For its part, from Berlin, AFP reports that
British Prime Minister Tony Blair reiterated that
the prison installed on the Guantánamo base is an
anomaly at the end of a meeting with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Peter Hain, British minister for Northern Ireland,
likewise supported the call for the closure of the
prison.
This is the first time that a British minister
has spoken out on the issue and stated that he would
prefer that the detention center did not exist, EFE
reports.
Gianfranco Fini, Italian deputy prime minister
and foreign minister, affirmed that the prison on
the U.S. base in Guantánamo is an anomaly.
Archbishop John Sentamu, the second highest
authority of the Anglican Church, has called for the
immediate closure of the detention center and has
charged the United States with breaking
international law, according to an EFE report
quoting an interview that Sentamu gave to The
Independent newspaper in the UK.
