U.N. report calls for closure of Guantanamo Bay prison

June 27 (UPI) -- An expert from the United Nations called on the United States to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison, saying that treatment of the detainees was cruel and degrading.

In a report released on Monday, U.N. Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ni Aolain said that while the 9/11 attacks constituted a crime against humanity, torture is a betrayal of the victims' rights.

Ni Aolain noted that many detainees endure "near-constant surveillance, forced cell extractions, undue use of restraints, and other arbitrary, non-human rights compliant operating procedures stemming from inadequate training."

"The totality of these practices and omissions have cumulative, compounding effects on detainees' dignity and fundamental rights, and amounts to ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment," she concluded. "Closure of the facility remains a priority."

Ni Aolain thanked President Joe Biden for allowing her access to the facility. She also said that while she commended the response for the 9/11 victims, more needed to be done, "including comprehensive legislative provision to ensure the long-term security and reliability of compensation and medical entitlements."

However, Ni Aolain saved her most scathing critique for the treatment of the detainees, saying that many of them continue to live with the ongoing harm following from systematic practices of rendition, torture, and arbitrary detention.

"For many, the dividing line between past and present is exceptionally thin and past experiences of torture live in the present, without any obvious end in sight, including because they have received no independent, holistic, or adequate torture rehabilitation," she said. "The time is now to undo the legacies of exceptionalism, discrimination, and securitization perpetuated by Guantánamo's continuing existence."