The top human rights official at the United Nations said Friday
that the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay is in “clear breach” of international law and
should be closed.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she
was “deeply disappointed” that the Obama administration had yet to close it.

{mosads}“The continuing indefinite incarceration of many of the
detainees amounts to arbitrary detention and is in clear breach of
international law,” Pillay said in a statement Friday. “Allegedly, around half
of the 166 detainees still being held in detention have been cleared for
transfer to either home countries or third countries for resettlement.”

One of President Obama’s first moves in office was an
executive order that called for closing the prison in Cuba, but he gained
little traction to do so during his first term, due in part to congressional
opposition.

The White House said last month it is still committed to
closing the prison during Obama’s second term, although it has yet to take any
actions in that direction.

Pillay said the Obama administration’s continued commitment to
closing the prison was “welcomed.”

“Nevertheless, this systemic abuse of individuals’ human
rights continues year after year,” she said. “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.”

Pillay said that “as a first step,” the U.S. government at least should release the detainees who have been cleared for transfer. 

Congress has enacted restrictions on the Obama administration’s ability to release any detainees from Guantánamo in the last several versions of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Pillay also noted the hunger strike that’s grown in size at Guantánamo in recent weeks, saying it was “scarcely surprising that people’s
frustrations boil over and they resort to such desperate measures.”