"A continuing detention of the Guantanamo prisoners without a trial for years is a vast violation of fundamental human rights and democracy. It becomes obvious in light of the details of the CIA's [Central Intelligence Agency] interrogation techniques applied in its secret prisons overseas that were partially revealed in December 2014," Konstantin Dolgov said, in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry's website.
The inaction of the Obama's administration in closing Guantanamo reaffirms double standards within the US legal system, and negatively affects the image of the country internationally, Dolgov added.
The ombudsman also mentioned the case of Russian citizen Ravil Mingazov, held for over 12 years in the infamous prison on the island of Cuba.
"In spite of the US assurances to process Mingazov's status 'within the next few weeks,' it never happened," the diplomat stated.
Mingazov was arrested in Pakistan in 2002, but no charges have been filed against him.
The Guantanamo prison opened in 2002 in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Since then, the military detention facility has been subject to criticism by human rights advocates, citing inhumane conditions including the use of torture, described by former detainees and detailed in a recent US government "torture report." There are currently 122 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In 2009, US President Barack Obama issued an executive order to review the status of all individuals imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and to shut down the detention facilities. The number of detainees has nearly been cut in half since 2009 but the facility is still open.
