UK’s G4S faces probe over Gitmo deal

A British rights group has filed a formal complaint against the security company G4S for accepting a multi-million pound contract to service the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison.

Human rights group Reprieve lodged the complaint with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), saying the security firm may have violated international guidelines by signing the £70 million ($118 million) contract. 

Under the guidelines by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), British businesses must behave responsibly regardless of where they operate.

“Any company that fully considers the human rights abuses committed at the Guantanamo Bay detention center would find it impossible to justify accepting a contract that enables the continued detention and contributes to the suffering of the detainees,” said Reprieve in the complaint.

G4S received the contract earlier this month to provide janitorial services to the US notorious prison, which holds 149 inmates who have not been charged with any offence.

However, Reprieve argues that the scope of the contract is so wide and unspecific that it could make the firm complicit in any rights violation at the prison.

Kevin Lo, one of the Reprieve investigators, said, “G4S needs to be much clearer about what it will be providing to the prison under this… contract. Will G4S vehicles be transporting force-feeding supplements, restraint chairs – even detainees?”

This is not the first time G4S comes under fire for its operations. The British multinational security company has been criticized for its cooperation with the Israeli regime, including providing equipment and services to Israeli checkpoints, illegal settlements, the apartheid wall and jails where Palestinian political prisoners are held in violation of international law.

CAH/HSN