Russia urges US to close Guantanamo prison soon

Russia continues to insist on the soonest possible closure of the US Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, which mainly keeps persons detained during the US anti-terror operations in Afghanistan, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov, said.On Saturday, Dolgov together with other representatives of the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office and Justice Ministry visited the Guantanamo Bay prison, (Itar-Tass) news agency reported Sunday.Russian officials met with Ravil Mingazov, the only Russian prisoner in the detention camp. Mingazov was transferred to Guantanamo in 2002, following his arrest by US security services in the house of a Pakistani man who had connections with Al Qaeda. The United States suspected him of having been trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan, Itar-Tass said. Moreover, the Russian delegation held talks with officials from the US Department of State, Pentagon and Department of Justice. “This trip has once again confirmed our principled position that coincides with approaches of the overwhelming majority of members of the world community – states, international human rights mechanisms and non-governmental organizations, including those of the United States – that the Guantanamo Bay prison should be closed as soon as possible,” he told reporters at the Russian embassy in the US.“To call things by their proper names, this is a shameful page in the United States’ history. This is a place, where for many years justice has been most roughly trampled and where human rights and freedoms have been violated,” Itar-Tass quoted Dolgov as saying.The soonest possible release of Mingazov from the Guantanamo Bay prison remained “an undoubted priority” for the Russian authorities that planned to pay “greater attention” to that problem and in general “to the problem of adequate observance of legal rights and interests of Russian citizens by the US authorities.”“There are not a few problems,” the Russian diplomat said, adding “We had an opportunity to hold in-depth discussions at the US Department of State and the Department of Justice. We raised issues stressing the need to return Russian citizens Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko home and inadmissibility to wheedle Russian citizens on the territories of third countries for their further extradition on charges that remained unknown to us and that the US authorities did not make clear to us officially.”