Inside Story

Guantanamo: Will it ever close?

As the detention camp marks its 13th anniversary, President Obama has yet to make good on his promise to shut it down.

It is 13 years since the first inmates, snashed against international law, were transferred to the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay. The prison has been operating outside the normal and recognised justice standards.

In his very early days in the White House, US President Barack Obama said he would close it. But since then nothing happened.

So, why is Washington keeping this controversial prison? And what does it take to close it?

Presenter: Hazem Sika

Guests:

Moazzam Begg – former Guantanamo Bay detainee and director of Outreach for Cage Prisoners

Rob Freer – US researcher for Amnesty International and specialist on the Guantanamo Bay detention centre

Lawrence Korb – former assistant secretary of defence and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress