Senate body calls for Gitmo closure

ISLAMABAD - The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights has demanded the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison and immediate release of six Pakistanis detained there.
This demand was made in a resolution, which was unanimously passed in a meeting of the Functional Committee of the Senate for Human Rights held on Saturday in the Parliament House under the Chairmanship of Senator SM Zafar.
The meeting discussed the issue of detention of a woman, believed to be a Pakistani national, at the US Army’s Bagram Detention Centre in Afghanistan for over four years. In this regard, the Committee also directed to seek written answer from the US authorities.
Senator Mushahid Hussain presented the resolution about the violations of Human Rights in Guantanamo Bay and demanded to send the resolution to the US officials for immediate release of six Pakistani prisoners.
The members of the Committee underlined the need for making more coordinated efforts to know the facts whether there was any woman languishing in illegal detention of the US force at Bagram and Guantanamo Bay.
They directed the Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Division to take up the matter with the Intelligence Agencies whether they had handed over any woman to the US forces for interrogation or not.
The Committee observed that as the issue was of immense importance, all-out efforts should be made not only to get the correct information but also to take appropriate steps to get the woman released, if detained. It gave clear-cut directions to the ministries concerned that bureaucratic snags should not mar the issue and priority should be given to the matter.