Amnesty International USA (AI) [advocacy website] alleges that Mustafa al-Hawsawi [AI report], one of the accused 9/11 ringleaders, is in desperate need of medical care in a letter [text, PDF] to the Pentagon that was made public on Wednesday. In the letter the agency states that Hawsawi is in severe rectal distress due to interrogation methods that amount to torture and that he has yet to receive adequate medical care. The letter further urges the Pentagon to look into the treatment of all current Guantanamo detainees due to ongoing complaints. A government spokesperson declined to comment [AFP report] on the letter but stated that all detainees receive medical care equal to that of service members

Currently, 91 detainees remain in Guantanamo Bay, and 34 await resettlement in foreign countries. The Obama administration has promised to close Guantanamo but has struggled due to Congressional opposition to relocating detainees to the US, as well as the slow process of transferring prisoners to other countries. Seventeen detainees were scheduled for transfer in January, although only 16 were released as one refused the transfer [JURIST report]. Human rights experts from the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation [official website] joined in sending an open letter [text, PDF] urging ]JURIST report] the US government to shut down the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay on its fourteenth anniversary last month.