MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow expects the United States to release a Russian detainee of the Guantanamo Bay prison, Ravil Mingazov, as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Ministry's Human Rights Ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov said in a statement Wednesday.
"We demand observance of all human rights and legitimate interests of the Russian citizen remaining in Guantanamo, who has been attributed to a category of 'not dangerous' prisoners by the US authorities, and we count on his rapid release," Dolgov said.
Russia's stance on the Guantanamo prison remains unchanged and it believes the US government has to close the detention camp, the ombudsman added.
The US government created the Guantanamo prison in 2002 to detain extremely dangerous offenders. In early 2009, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to shut down the prison, following increasing human rights groups’ criticism over grave human rights violations in the camp.
As many as 107 prisoners remain in the facility after five Yemeni Guantanamo detainees were reportedly transferred to the United Arab Emirates last week.
