MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier on Tuesday, the US Department of Defense submitted to Congress a four-point plan to close the infamous detention facility.
"I am encouraged to see that the President is sending Congress a plan to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. As I have said for years, the prison at Guantanamo must be closed as quickly as possible," Sanders said in a statement later in the day, as quoted by the CNN network.
Earlier in the day, Sanders’ rival Hillary Clinton also expressed her support of Obama’s plan.
In 2009, Obama pledged to close the notorious Cuba-based detention center amid mounting concerns about human rights abuses committed by US personnel against detainees.
The Obama administration has discussed plans to transfer the remaining Guantanamo detainees to prisons in US states such as South Carolina and Kansas, but some congressmen have expressed alarm about relocating the detainees to the United States.