The Irish Government Agrees to Accept Gitmo Detainees

The Irish government has agreed to accept a number of Guantanamo Bay detainees who were released by the United States but cannot return to their homeland for fear of reprisal violence.

Amnesty International, a human rights organization has urged the European Union to accept released detainees, as the United States has failed to assimilate them back into society since their October 2008 ruling of unlawful apprehension.

Last week, Ireland’s Prime Minister Brian Cowen said, “It is incumbent on us, those who called for (Guantanamo’s) closure, to assist the United States in ensuring that certain prisoners are relocated elsewhere.”

Last October, a federal judge ruled that 17 Guantanamo detainees were unlawfully apprehended and ordered their immediate release into the United States They remain in indefinite detention in the base more than five months later according to Amnesty International.

“There are some countries that have made it very clear if the detainees are returned that they will face consequences; imprisonment, for example. So we need help to avoid the human rights problems that might arise with the release and resettlement of the detainees,” Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State said last Tuesday.

Ireland is in discussion to accept four of the 60 remaining prisoners who will not be standing trial on terror charges. 181 prisoners are still being processed and/or being held on terror charges. Of the hundreds of men imprisoned in Guantanamo only three have been convicted of terrorism.

“Any memorandum of understanding between the USA and Europe on Guantánamo detainees must take into account this fundamental requirement: all detainees who are not charged and tried fairly in US courts must be released safely,” said Daniel Gorevan with Amnesty International. “The closure of Guantánamo must mark a clean and comprehensive break from the human rights violations that have been committed in the name of countering terrorism.”

“If the USA is not planning to promptly charge and try them in ordinary US courts, and cannot release them to their own countries safely, it should immediately offer them an opportunity to be released into the USA,” he said. .

The Guantanamo Bay Detention center is scheduled to close within a year under the Obama administration. Amnesty International is also urging the U.S. government to investigate reports of torture and misconduct under the former Bush administration.

- Amnesty International and The Times Online contributed to this article.