Joanne Knight’s Blog

Since his election Barack Obama has pledged to close Guantánamo Bay and rebuild “America’s moral stature in the world”. The next 100 days in office offers the opportunity to make a clean break with the past.

In his inauguration speech US President Obama promised a “new era of responsibility”:

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, America has committed grave human rights violations around the world under the banner of the ‘war on terror’.

Suspects have been abducted and covertly transported to secret US-run facilities or to other governments where they have faced torture and ill-treatment. Individuals have been victims of enforced disappearance and some still remain unaccounted for.

Hundreds of people have been unlawfully detained in conditions that have amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. US officials have admitted the use of torture and other ill-treatment and have reserved the right to do so again.

By closing Guantánamo, ending torture and setting up an independent investigation into US ‘war on terror’ abuses, President Obama can make concrete human rights reforms a reality.

We’re not expecting miracles, but we do expect President Obama to stand by his commitments.

We’ve produced a checklist if actions we’d like to see President Obama take in his first 100 days in office. These include:

• Announcing a timeline for the closure of Guantánamo Bay
• Issuing an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment
• Ensuring an independent inquiry into the US’s detention and interrogation practices in its ‘war on terror’

You can help bring to an end the previous administration’s seven-year assault on human rights in the ‘war on terror’.

Please join Amnesty International members in calling on President Obama to uphold his promise to restore justice and accountability within his first 100 days in office.

Learn more

• Find out more about our campaign to close Guantanamo Bay
• Add the 100 Days widget to your site or profile

From Amnesty International