WASHINGTON, 07 August 2021, (TON): Democratic lawmakers called on US President Joe Biden Thursday to immediately shut down the Guantanamo prison and either release or place on trial in federal courts the 39 remaining ‘war on terror’ detainees there.

With the United States approaching the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, 75 lawmakers signed a letter saying the US Navy-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was in disrepair, costly and a two-decade-old human rights embarrassment to the country.

The prison has become a symbol of the excesses in the ‘war on terror’ launched after the 2001 attacks.

They wrote “the prison at Guantanamo has held nearly 800 prisoners throughout its history but currently holds only 39 men, many aging and increasingly infirm.”

They said “according to reports, the prison costs over $500 million per year to operate, at a staggering annual cost of $13 million per prisoner.”

They added that the continued operation of the prison is a stain on our international reputation and undermines our ability to advocate for human rights and the rule of law.