The Financial Toll of Guantánamo and its Continued Human Rights Violations

By Ena Cefo 

In response to the proposed legislation by Senators McCain, Ayotte, Graham and Burr seeking to restrict transfers of prisoners from Guantánamo, Human Rights First outlined the exorbitant financial costs of running the Guantanamo prison — costing a total of $443 million in 2014. 54 of the remaining Guantánamo detainees have been cleared and most of the others will face hearings to assess their security threat and potentially clear them for transfer. The newly proposed legislation presents another block in the Obama administration’s aim to transfer detainees and eventually close the Guantánamo facility. Along with numerous other human rights organizations, Amnesty International has criticized the continued operation of Guantánamo (six years after President Obama’s executive order to close the facility) as a leading example of the United States’ hypocrisy on human rights.