By Debra Sweet

According to the International Justice Nework,

"the US has been indefinitely detaining prisoners without charge or trial since 2002 in Afghanistan. Today at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, the US has approximately 3,100+ Afghan prisoners and 50+ non-Afghan prisoners in its sole custody. As reported by NPR, however, a politically motivated deal was recently struck between the US and Afghan governments through which the US will purportedly transfer its detention operations to Afghan custody by September.

Nevertheless, it appears the US will continue to exercise de facto control over any prisoners it transfers into the Afghan administrative detention regime."

Monday, the IJN argued on behalf of three non-Afghan citizens whom the U.S. government forcibly rendered to Afghanistan nearly ten years ago, for indefinite imprisonment at Bagram Air Base.  At issue in the case is whether the U.S. government can continue to use Bagram as the “other Guantánamo” to indefinitely detain prisoners in U.S. custody without access to legal counsel or courts. 

The IJN's argument to the court gains urgency with the news that the government "intends to retain control over a portion of the prison at Bagram for the purpose of detaining  Petitioners (along with approximately 50 other non-Afghan prisoners) in a legal black hole at Bagram."

Guantánamo isn't just on an island named Cuba... increasingly, under the Obama administration, Guantánamo-like indefinite detention is defended and expanded.

The World Can't Wait for us to stop the crimes of our government.