Groups Urge Guantánamo Closure After Two Decades

January 11, 2026, marks the 24th anniversary of the opening of the military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. One hundred sixteen U.S.-based and international non-governmental organizations are calling for its permanent closure and accountability for past U.S. policies related to the facility. These organizations, working on issues including international human rights, immigrants’ rights, racial justice, and combatting anti-Muslim discrimination, reaffirm the need to end the detention regime without repurposing the facility.

Background on Guantánamo Bay

The Guantánamo detention facility was established in 2002 on a military base that previously held Haitian refugees. Organizations assert the facility represents an abandonment of the rule of law, designed to evade legal constraints and facilitate practices like torture. Since its opening, nearly 800 men have been detained, the vast majority of whom are Muslim and many never charged with a crime. Fifteen men remain indefinitely detained, including three who have been cleared for release by U.S. national security agencies. Many of these detainees were subjected to torture and now face complex medical conditions.

Current Detainee Situation and Immigrant Detentions

The organizations highlight the ongoing harm caused by the continued detention of individuals at Guantánamo. They also express concern over the facility’s repurposing to detain other individuals unlawfully. Since February 2025, over 700 immigrants, primarily transported from the United States, have been temporarily detained at Guantánamo’s Migrant Operations Center and Camp 6. These individuals have reportedly experienced inhumane treatment, including prolonged isolation, denial of legal counsel, and degrading conditions. Some have been transferred to other countries without assessments of potential risks of torture or persecution.

Call for Action

The organizations are urging specific actions to address the situation. These include transferring the six men not charged with a crime, ending the military commissions, permanently closing Guantánamo without repurposing it, holding perpetrators of U.S. crimes accountable, and providing redress to those whose human rights have been violated.

Signatories

The following organizations have signed the statement:

Adrian Dominican Sisters
Advokato
Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
Alliance of Baptists
Almonqith organization for Human Rights
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Amnesty International USA
Antigone
Arab American Family Services
Asian Classics Institute
Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
CAGE International
Campaign Against Arms Trade
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Center for Victims of Torture
Centre Action Sociale Réhabilitation et Réadaptation pour les Victimes de la Torture et de la guerre
Church Women United in New York State
Citizen’s Gavel Foundation
Close Guantanamo
Coalition for Civil Freedoms
Coalition to Stop Trident
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Consortium des Associations de Jeunes Pour la Défense des Victimes de Violences en Guinée (COJEDEV)
Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Cross Cultural Foundation Thailand
De Novo Center for Justice and Healing
Defending Rights & Dissent
Demand Progress
Ensaaf
FEDERATION DES FEMMES POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT INTEGRAL AU CONGO
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Government Information Watch
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, USA-JPIC
Hope Knows No Borders Network
Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef)
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture victims (IRCT)
InterReligious Task Force on Central America
Irídia – Human Rights Defence Center
Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights
Just Detention International
Just Neighbors
JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF)
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Khmer Health Advocates
L.I.Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
Lebanese Centre For Human Rights (CLDH)
Liberia Association of Psychosocial Services
LIncoln Park Presbyterian Church
Listening and Assistance Center, LAC
Marjorie Kovler Center, Heartland Alliance International
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Maryknoll Sisters
MPower Change Action Fund
Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC)
Muslim Counterpublics Lab
Muslim Justice Center
Muslim Justice League
Muslims for Just Futures
Mutual Aid Immigration Network
Mwatikho Torture Survivors Foundation
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
North Carolina Stop Torture Now
Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition
Oasis Legal Services
Omega Research Foundation
Pax Christi Florida
Pax Christi Massachusetts
Pax Christi USA
Peace & Planet News
Peace Action
Peace Action New York State
Peace Catalyst International
Peace, Earthcare and Social Witness Committee of Strawberry Creek Meeting
Peacemakers of Schoharie County
Physicians for Human Rights
PRAWA
Program for Torture Victims
Provincial Council Clerics of St. Viator
Reprieve US
ROADDH/WAHRDN
Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre-RULAAC
Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition
Schoharie County Peacemakers
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign
Sisters of St. Francis
Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque IA
Social Justice Guild, First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta
Sojourners
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Tea Project
The Interfaith Center of New York
The May 13 Group
United for Peace and Justice
West African Human Rights Defenders Network
Western States Legal Foundation
Win Without War
Witness Against Torture
World BEYOND War
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Yelef Initiative