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Europe urged to accept Guantanamo Bay detainees
Portugal offers help in resettling Guantanamo inmates and asks other EU nations to do the same.
- By Michael Abramowitz, Los Angeles Times- Washington Post News Service
- Published: 00:20 December 13, 2008
Washington: Portugal's foreign minister has called for European countries to accept detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, a move that US officials and human rights advocates regard as a possible harbinger of a new willingness by Europe to assist in closing the controversial facility.
"The time has come for the European Union to step forward," Luis Amado told other EU countries in a letter made public on Thursday.
"As a matter of principle and coherence, we should send a clear signal of our willingness to help the US government in that regard, namely through the resettlement of detainees. As far as the Portuguese government is concerned, we will be available to participate."
The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where roughly 250 detainees are held, has long been a symbol of what European publics consider US lawlessness.
But while European officials have criticised the United States and called for the centre's closure, they have been unwilling to take concrete steps to make that easier.
According to US officials, there are 60 or so detainees who have been cleared for release but have no place to go, in part because they fear persecution or torture if they return to their home nations.
The Portuguese letter is "highly significant," said State Department legal adviser John Bellinger, saying it is the first time an EU country has publicly indicated a willingness to accept detainees. "That's a quite open challenge to the rest of Europe."
The incoming administration of Barack Obama, who has vowed to close Guantanamo, may be one factor relaxing European attitudes about helping the US government close the facility.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has also pressed European governments to help, with a particular focus on Portugal, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Amado's letter cited "the more constructive attitude displayed by the US Department of State" in the debate over Guantanamo Bay.
Jennifer Daskal, a senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch, said the Portuguese announcement could be "the start of a trend".
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