Closure of Guantanamo

AI Australia is asking that we email the US president-elect Mr Barack Obama, and call on him to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Read more here.

Australian citizens and residents can email the embassy, on usrsaustralia at state.gov. Others could either email their local embassy (find the details here), or use the contact form here.

My email is below.

Dear President-elect Obama,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, and a PhD student at the Australian National University.

You have inspired and brought hope to millions around the world. A hope shared by many is that you will reverse the atrocious trend manifested under the Bush administration, of human and civil rights being subjected to summary approval or rejection by the executive power of the US.

Human rights may not be set aside when convenience or dire circumstance seems to demand it. They are inviolable. Using torture to defend what we hold dear destroys it instead.

You can bring to an end the previous administration's seven-year assault on human rights in the 'war on terror'.

I call on you to demonstrate your commitment to justice by:

* Announcing the timeline to close Guantanamo
* Issuing an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment as defined under international law
* Ensuring that an independent inquiry into the USA's detention and interrogation practices in its "war on terror" is set up
* Ensuring that an immediate review of Bush’s “signing statements” is carried out, and that commitment to separation of powers is reaffirmed and strengthened


You can counter terror with justice. We are counting on you.


Sincerely

Ole Koksvik