Uruguay says won’t take in more Gitmo inmates

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa says his country will stop granting asylum to inmates from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Nin Novoa explained Uruguay has faced “cultural and infrastructure” problems in dealing with refugees.

This comes after cases of domestic violence incidents involving refugees was reported by local media in Uruguay .

Nin Novoa also said Uruguay’s decision on accepting new refugees will be put on hold until the end of the year.

In December, 2014, Montevideo granted asylum to six men who had been kept at the US military prison for 12 years over their alleged links with the al-Qaeda terrorist group but had never been charged.

In February, Uruguay’s former President Jose Mujica paid a visit to the six men and said that “they bear the scars of living for so many years in isolation and in inhospitable conditions.”

Mujica, who was himself a prisoner once during the former military rule in the country, gave the Guantanamo prisoners asylum in the South American state on “humanitarian” grounds, saying the six had fallen victim to an “atrocious” kidnapping.

File photo showing an inmate in the yard at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba on April 8, 2014 (© AFP)

El Salvador is the only other Latin American country that has granted Guantanamo Bay prisoners asylum, granting sanctuary to two in 2012.

The Guantanamo Bay prison at the US naval base in Cuba was set up in January 2002 to keep terror suspects captured during the so-called US war on terror. Despite, promises by US President Barack Obama to close the prison, due to its damage to the US reputation, it remains open with more than 120 detainees, many of them without charge or trial.

However, Obama faces difficulties closing the prison due to resistance from Republican lawmakers in Congress. A 2010 law that bans the transfer of prisoners to the United States makes the facility’s closure more difficult and has forced the Obama administration to find third-party countries willing to accept them