WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — US government plans to transfer detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to the United States must not perpetuate the practice of indefinite detentions without trial, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deputy head Omer Fisher told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"One of the main recommendations for [the United States] is to make sure that any plan, including any process that leads to the identification of sites in the United States where the people could be detained, does not lead to indefinite detention without trial," Fisher said.
On Tuesday, the ODIHR released a report documenting US human rights abuses against detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility, including indefinite detention. The organization also issued a series of proposals aimed at closing the detention center.
The ODIHR noted in the report that the overwhelming majority of detainees at Guantanamo Bay were being held indefinitely, without specific charges against them.
Prisoners who have not had charges brought against them "should be released," Fisher stated.
The ODIHR report concluded that many released detainees are unable to return to their country of origin because of the threat they would face even worse human rights abuses.
This week, the US Department of Defense is expected to release a plan for the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States as part of President Barack Obama’s initiative to close the detention facility.
Over the past months, the Defense Department has studied sites in the US states of South Carolina, Colorado and Kansas to move the detainees.
At present, 112 prisoners remain at Guantanamo Bay and only ten have been brought up on charges of terrorism.
The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay became well-known during the US global War on Terror, as suspects were brought there from overseas and were subjected to inhuman treatment, including torture.
