Comment by Konstantin Dolgov, Russian Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law, on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Exactly a year ago, in January 2014, a Russian inter-departmental delegation visited Russian citizen Ravil Mingazov at the detention camp within USGuantanamo Bay Naval Base. Mingazov has been incarcerated there for over 12 years, no charges have been brought up against him, and no trial has been held to date.

Although the Russian delegation received assurances from the US side that the situation with Mingazov would be resolved within several weeks, this has not happened yet. Mingazov, who remains deprived of his rights, continues to be held at the detention camp, under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Defence, as an unprivileged enemy combatant.

Against this backdrop, there is serious concern that the situation around the Guantanamo Bay detention camp will mostly remain dismal and negative. Washington is silent about the prospects for shutting down this facility, although President Barack Obama promised in his 2009 inaugural speech that this would be accomplished in a year, and that all remaining inmates would be transferred to US territory, where they would be completely protected by national legislation.

The long-term incarceration of dozens of inmates at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp without trial is in glaring contradiction with the fundamental norms of human rights and democracy. This is particularly evident in the context of details, which were partially disclosed in late 2014, about CIA torture operations at secret overseas prisons. Passivity in shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp serves as yet another confirmation of the US policy of double standards in the area of human rights that negatively affects this country's international reputation.