Resolution Calling for Justice in Guantánamo Bay

WHEREAS the practice of holding people in the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base detention center (hereafter referred to as “Guantánamo Bay detention center”)  represents the continuation of a repudiated foreign policy and stain upon the character of the United States; and

WHEREAS over 100 of the 166 remaining prisoners at the Guantánamo Bay detention center have been on hunger strike for over 98 days to protest the lack of basic human and legal rights as outlined by the U.S. Constitution and international law; and

WHEREAS 86 prisoners have been cleared for release since 2010 by an inter-agency task force[i], yet continue to be detained; and

WHEREAS it is wrong for any country, for any reason, to detain someone for over 11 years and not charge him with any crime; and[ii]

WHEREAS the United Nations have declared that the continued imprisonment of the Guantánamo Bay detention center prisoners is “a flagrant violation of international human rights law and in itself constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment[iii]”; and

WHEREAS the United Nations condemned the coercive practice of forced feedings of hunger striking prisoners of The Guantánamo Bay detention center as a form of torture and a violation of medical ethics[iv]; and

WHEREAS residents of Northampton have long struggled to close the Guantánamo Bay detention center, from the activism of “No More Guantánamos” to hunger striking residents to acts of civil disobedience to a Northampton Proclamation denouncing the torturous conditions of Guantanamo on June 22, 2011[v]; and

WHEREAS other municipalities, from the nearby Town of Amherst to the City of Berkeley, have acted forthrightly to address the injustices at Gunatanamo Bay by offering to accepted cleared prisoners in their communities; and

WHEREAS President Obama pledged to close the prison over 5 years ago, and recently stated that the prison is “not necessary to keep America safe. It’s expensive, it’s inefficient, it hurts us in terms of international standing, it lessens cooperation with our allies in counterterrorism efforts.[vi]”; then

BE IT RESOLVED that the Northampton City Council calls upon our federal representative and senators to advocate and act forthrightly to see justice done in Guantánamo Bay; and

BE IT RESOLVED we call upon President Obama to maintain his pledge to close the Guantánamo Bay detention center; and

BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Northampton opposes the continued existence of the Guantánamo Bay detention center and the violation of rule of law that it represents, and calls for all its prisoners to be charged or released; and

And BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be sent to the President and Attorney General of the United States, the United States Senators for Massachusetts, and the United States Representative for Massachusetts’ Second District.