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The US military base in Guantanamo Bay
Photo: Alex Brandon / AP
US President Joe Biden plans to close the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba by the end of his term in office.
That said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
"That is surely the goal and our intention," she said.
Previously, the National Security Council (NSC) spokeswoman Emily Horne said that the current state of affairs was being examined "in line with our overriding goal of closing Guantanamo."
The NSC will work with the defense, foreign and justice ministries and coordinate closely with Congress, she said.
According to this, important posts in the responsible ministries must first be filled before the process can move forward.
"We need the right people in office to do this important job," she said.
Forty people are currently detained in the camp in Cuba, most of them for almost two decades without charge or trial.
Critics speak of harsh detention conditions and accuse the USA of torture.
In early February, more than a hundred human rights organizations wrote an open letter calling on the new US president to close the camp and end the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects.
Biden had spoken out in favor of a closure during the election campaign, but gave no details.
Established after September 11, 2001
President George W. Bush had set up the camp in the US military base to imprison terrorist suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Up to 800 people were temporarily detained there.
Bush's successor Barack Obama - under whom Biden served as Vice President - was already planning to close the prison camp.
However, it failed to implement it, particularly because of opposition from Republicans in Congress.
Trump reversed Obama's policy after taking office in 2017 and ordered Guantanamo to continue operating in 2018.
In 2019 the New York Times calculated that more than $ 540 million would be paid to accommodate 40 people.
That's more than $ 13 million per prisoner, making Guantanamo the most expensive prison in the world, the newspaper wrote.
There is a chapel, a cinema, two restaurants and their own medical team for the Guantanamo staff.
Because unlike in other American prisons, soldiers and guardians cannot leave the hermetically sealed base leased by Cuba.
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