Gordon dares US to free 41 Guantanamo detainees

SEN. Richard Gordon on Saturday dared the United States to free its remaining 41 detainees at its Guantanamo Bay detention camp to match its demand of freeing detained Sen. Leila de Lima.

Gordon issued the challenge to US Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont who demanded that the Philippines, being a recipient of US aid, should free de Lima on humanitarian grounds.

On May 20, 2009, the US Senate passed an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (HR 2346) by a 90-6 vote to block funds needed for the transfer or release of prisoners

held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

In February 2011, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Guantanamo Bay was unlikely to be closed, due to opposition in the Congress.

The US Congress particularly opposed moving prisoners to facilities in the United States for detention or trial.

Most, if not all, of the remaining Guantanamo detainees are said to be Muslims tagged as terrorists arrested following the 9-11 attacks, which destroyed the twin buildings of the World Trade Center and a part of the Pentagon.

The Leahy amendment to a US appropriation bill approved by a Senate panel authorizes the Secretary of State to bar the entry of Philippine officials who helped in the continued detention of de Lima.

The Leahy amendment of the US, like China, constitutes “bullying” by a big nation on small nations, Gordon said.

“Unang una panghihimasok ‘yan,may courts tayotumatakbo, pwede kamagbail, mayabogado ka,ba’tkayo makikialam?” (In the first place, that is interference. We have a functioning judiciary that you can go to, you are allowed bail, you have a lawyer. Why are you meddling?),” he asked.

Gordon sees the move of Senators Leahy and Richard Joseph

“Dick” Durbin of Illinois as linked to the fight of the Democrats against the Republican party with President Trump as its presidential candidate.

While stating the amendment is “nothing,” still the Philippine Ambassador to the United States should do something about it, Gordon stressed.

While it is the right of the US to reject the entry of a foreigner, it is also not right to bully prospective travelers, he explained.