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Will Joe Biden release prisoners, and ultimately close Guantanamo? British journalist Andy Worthington returns to talk about America’s Caribbean gulag and his role in the British extradition hearings for Julian Assange.Worthington is the author of The Guantanamo Files, and has dedicated more than 15 years of his life to expose and end the use of the prison complex that has undermined America’s reputation and claims of liberty and justice. Get his latest reporting here.
We open with some speculation about Biden’s potential for action on Gitmo, since he has not taken a public position during the presidential campaign. Worthington hopes he will permit the release of 5 prisoners who were cleared during the last year of the Obama administration, and amend the laws that prevent Guantanamo prisoners from being brought to the US to at least allow for emergency medical care, especially for elderly men.
We discuss Obama’s failure to close Guantanamo–which he lamented in a recent interview with Stephen Colbert–and related issues, like Obama’s legal equivocation about the rights of “forever prisoners” who may never be charged, tried, or released. While it’s easy to blame Republicans, many Democratic leaders oppose any changes to Guantanamo policy.
And near the end, Worthington shares his observations about the recent extradition hearings for Julian Assange, where Worthington was scheduled to testify. In the end, he submitted a statement describing how WikiLeaks release of the Guantanamo files produced evidence of American war crimes.
Andy’s important work is supported by contributions, so if you are able, please chip in!