UK campaigners pour on the pressure
President elect Obama has not even sat behind his desk in the Oval Office but he is already facing demands from people urging him to keep his promise and bring change to the world.
Peter Tatchell, UK Green party candidate and human rights activist, has written the president-elect an open latter calling for a “freer and fairer future”.
It follows an Amnesty International internet advert urging people to sign an online petition insisting the new president to close Guantanamo Bay, ban torture and have an inquiry into human rights abuse throughout the ‘war on terror’.
Added to this, Amnesty has issued a checklist of demands that it expects to be met and will monitor their progress during the first ‘100 days’.
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: “President Obama should publish a clear timetable over how and when this travesty of justice will be brought to an end.
“Meanwhile, the new president should issue a presidential order completely banning torture and allow a commission of inquiry into torture and all other ‘war on terror’ abuses.”
Mr Tatchell echoed these sentiments and added his own objectives for the president-elect.
His demands are bold and rub against the grain of American ideals, such as reducing military expenditure by 10 per cent and using that money to combat world hunger, to force Israel back to its pre-1967 borders and to create a new economic framework that will focus on the common good rather than private gain.
Not all of Mr Tatchell or Amnesty’s demands are likely to be met but the closure of Guantanamo Bay is likely to be president Obama’s first order of business.
He is expected to issue an executive order declaring the closure of the controversial camp on his first day in office as a powerful statement of the change in direction that America has embarked upon.
The real problem that will have to be met by Obama is what he will do with the detainees deemed serious terror suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks.
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