“The United States must respect and guarantee the life, health and personal integrity of detainees at the Guantánamo Naval Base, particularly in the context of the current hunger strike,” a group of international experts on human rights, arbitrary detention, torture, counter-terrorism and health said in a news release from the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR).

The experts, who comprise the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, added that they have received specific information about severe and prolonged physiological and psychological damage caused by the high degree of uncertainty the detainees face over basic aspects of their lives, such as not knowing whether they will be tried or whether they will be released and when; or whether they will see their family members again.

The Commission also urged the US Government to adopt concrete measures to end the indefinite detention of persons; to ensure the detainees are either released or prosecuted in accordance with due process and the principles and standards of international human rights law; and to allow for independent monitoring by international human rights bodies.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he would recommit himself to closing the Cuba-based prison, a goal he has voiced at least three times in the past four years but which is hampered by Congressional opposition.

“You can’t just set up something like that and keep it in perpetuity, which is in fact what Congress has made possible by bringing in a new law in the beginning of the year called the National Defence Authorization Act which essentially provides for the indefinite military detention without charge or trial of detainees at Guantánamo Bay,” Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office told UN Radio.

In a statement, the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, noted that the indefinite detention of individuals, most of whom have not been charged, “goes far beyond a minimally reasonable period of time and causes a state of suffering, stress, fear and anxiety, which in itself constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.”

Around half of the 166 detainees in the centre have been cleared for transfer to their home countries or third countries for resettlement. “All relevant security-related Government agencies or authorities have expressly certified that those detainees do not represent a threat to US security,” said the Special Rapporteur on countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson.

However, the cleared detainees continue to remain in the centre, alongside those reportedly designated for indefinite detention.

“Of those, 56 are Yemeni nationals who have been denied release based solely on their nationality and on the political situation in Yemen, which constitutes a clear violation of the principle of non-discrimination and renders their detention arbitrary and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” explained El Hadji Malick Sow, who currently heads the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Last month, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said she was “deeply disappointed” by the US inaction on closing the centre. She also noted that the continued incarceration of cleared detainees raised serious concerns under international law and severely undermined US stance as an upholder of human rights.

Speaking with UN Radio today, Mr. Colville said the ongoing hunger strike is a manifestation of the uncertainty felt by the detainees.

“One can only imagine the feelings of these people who one minute they’re told they’re cleared for transfer home and then it doesn’t happen. You’ve got now this hunger strike which is really a symptom of extreme desperation,” he said.

According to media reports, 21 of the reported 100 striking detainees are being force-fed a nutritional supplement through tubes inserted in their noses.

While the individual circumstances of those detainees are unclear, the UN Special Rapporteur on health, Anand Grover, stressed that “health care personnel may not apply undue pressure of any sort on individuals who have opted for the extreme recourse of a hunger strike.”

She added that it is also not acceptable to use threats of forced feeding or other types of physical or psychological coercion against individuals who have voluntarily decided to go on a hunger strike.

Independent experts, such as the special rapporteurs cited, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.

At a White House press briefing on Tuesday Obama said the prison at Guantanamo “needs to be closed” and committed to reviewing administrative steps and reengaging with Congress to do so. The president’s remarks came amid reports that more than 100 prisoners at Guantanamo were participating in a hunger strike and that the military is force feeding many of them.

US President Barack Obama should move swiftly to fulfill newly repeated promises to end indefinite detention without trial at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“President Obama’s call to end indefinite detention at Guantanamo is encouraging after his long silence on the issue,” said Laura Pitter, counterterrorism advisor at Human Rights Watch.

“Though he blamed Congress for the problems at Guantanamo, there are actions he could have taken and can still take now to end indefinite detention there.”

When Obama first took office in 2009, he promised to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay within one year. More than four years later, 166 prisoners remain imprisoned, only a handful of whom face charges.

Obama has pointed to congressional restrictions on transfers of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison as an obstacle to closure of the prison, but he himself has repeatedly signed those restrictions into law, Human Rights Watch said. And the restrictions are not a complete bar – instead, they require the Defense Secretary to ensure certain conditions have been met in the transfer countries.

Of the prisoners now at Guantanamo, the Obama administration has in the past designated 86 for transfer to their home or third countries if security conditions could be met.

The media has reported that the military has deployed “medical reinforcements” to the prisons to assist with feedings of at least 21 of the hunger strikers who have refused sustenance. Five prisoners are reportedly hospitalized.

“I am deeply disappointed that the US Government has not been able to close Guantanamo Bay, despite repeatedly committing itself to do so,” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.

According to Ms. Pillay’s office (OHCHR), around half of the 166 detainees in the centre have been cleared for transfer to their home countries or third countries for resettlement. However, they have remained there, while others have reportedly been designated for indefinite detention.

“Some of them have been festering in this detention centre for more than a decade,” Ms. Pillay said. “This raises serious concerns under international law. It severely undermines the United States’ stance that it is an upholder of human rights, and weakens its position when addressing human rights violations elsewhere.”

Ms. Pillay noted that four years ago she had welcomed the announcement by President Barack Obama saying he was placing a high priority on closing Guantanamo and establishing a system to protect the fundamental rights of detainees. She further welcomed the White House’s reiteration of this commitment last week, citing Congressional legislation as the main obstacle for progress on the issue.

However, Ms. Pillay said she was concerned that in spite of these commitments, abuses to detainees’ human rights have continued in a systematic manner year after year, leading many prisoners to take desperate measures such as going on hunger strikes.

“We must be clear about this: the United States is in clear breach not just of its own commitments but also of international laws and standards that it is obliged to uphold. When other countries breach these standards, the US – quite rightly – strongly criticizes them for it.”

Ms. Pillay also expressed alarm over the continued obstacles the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 has created for the closure of the detention facility, as well as for the trial of detainees in civilian courts, where warranted, or for their release. The Act was signed into law by Mr. Obama on 3 January despite previous threats to veto its renewal.

Guantanamo detainees who are accused of crimes should be tried in civilian courts, particularly as the military commissions – even after improvements made in 2009 – do not meet international fair trial standards, Ms. Pillay said.

“Anyone who is deprived of his or her liberty by arrest or detention is entitled, under international human rights law, to regular review of the lawfulness of their detention and to be released if the detention is not lawful,” she said. “Any ensuing judicial proceedings must scrupulously respect due process and fair trial standards.”

The High Commissioner emphasized that as long as Guantanamo remains open, US authorities must make every effort to observe the detainees’ rights. “Under human rights law, people deprived of their liberty must be treated with humanity and with respect for their inherent dignity,” she said.

Ms. Pillay also called on the United States Government to allow UN Human Rights Council experts full and unfettered access to the detention centre as well as to detainees.

“The US military’s repatriation of detainee Omar Khadr from the Guantánamo Bay naval base to his native Canada is a small step towards ending the decade-long human rights vacuum at the US-run detention centre,” Amnesty International said on Monday.

Following his transfer to Canada on Saturday, the 26-year-old who was born in Toronto will remain in Canadian custody until he is eligible to apply for parole next summer.

Held by the US military since his detention in Afghanistan at the age of 15 in 2002, Khadr was subjected to torture or other ill-treatment and then prosecuted in Guantánamo’s military commissions system, a system that fails to meet international fair trial standards.

“Khadr’s tragic story underscores why Guantánamo should close – not tomorrow, but today,” said Suzanne Nossel, Amnesty International USA’s executive director. President Obama must live up to his promise to close the book on the Guantánamo chapter and ensure that all detainees are either charged and fairly tried, or released. He must also ensure full accountability and access to remedy for the human rights violations to which the US authorities and other states have subjected detainees. That’s the only way to ensure justice for everyone.”

Despite President Barack Obama’s promise to close Guantánamo within a year of entering office in January 2009, following Khadr’s repatriation, 166 men remain in detention at the US naval base, according to Amnesty. 

After the US military began operating the Guantánamo detention centre in January 2002, detainees were denied access to lawyers and the courts for more than two years, and allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees relating to this period have been particularly prevalent. To date, only one detainee held at Guantánamo has been transferred to mainland USA and tried in ordinary federal civilian court. 

Over the course of the last decade, nine Guantánamo detainees have died in custody – including Yemeni national Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif in early September this year.

In October 2010 Omar Khadr was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to five charges under the Military Commissions Act 2009, including the “murder in violation of the law of war” of a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. 

As part of a pre-trial plea agreement, his prison sentence was limited to eight years – and he would not receive credit for the eight years he had already spent in US custody by then. He also became eligible for transfer to Canada after 12 months, though at the time there was no guarantee that his repatriation would take place.

The courts, UN bodies and numerous NGOs including Amnesty International have repeatedly pointed to the human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by Khadr, that have yet to be remedied. 

His allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in US military custody are credible and troubling, and must finally be investigated impartially and effectively, Amnesty says. 

Canadian officials were also found to have violated Khadr’s rights when they continued to interrogate him in Guantánamo despite the fact that his detention and treatment violated international law.

Amnesty International also calls on Canadian authorities to afford Khadr the full protections to which he is entitled under international and domestic law, and to ensure he receives appropriate rehabilitation in preparation for his eventual release.

Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 – when he was 15 years old – for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, who finishes her term as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict at the end of this month, called on the two Governments to transfer Mr. Khadr to Canada, as was agreed in October 2010.

“Omar Khadr was a child soldier and our experience around the world clearly indicates that a system focusing on rehabilitation is far better suited for these children who have been exploited and abused by adults,” she stated in a news release.

“Transferring him to Canada for proper reintegration is the right thing to do,” she added.