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Bert Koenders (Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl/Wikimedia Commons)
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Bert Koenders (Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl/Wikimedia Commons)
Thursday, 18 August 2016 - 15:30
No Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Netherlands for now: Foreign Min.
The Netherlands will not take prisoners from controversial American prison Guantanamo Bay unless more is done to reduce, or eventually close the facility, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders emphasized on Thursday. Almost nothing meaningful has been done by the U.S. to move in that direction, he said of the facility on the island of Cuba.
“For example, we need statements from the United States that people will also be transferred there,” he said, according to BNR. Koenders wants clear proof that the U.S. is taking responsibility for the prison, and the fate of its inmates.
The U.S. requested that many allies take on prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, including the Netherlands. President Barack Obama has not been able to reach an agreement with legislators in the U.S. to shut down the facility since he took office in 2009.