About 100 Days

When he took office on 20 January 2009, President Barack Obama inherited a legacy of torture, impunity and unlawful detention. The legacy is the result of the USA’s response to the attacks of 11 September 2001. The response has been marked by an assault on the framework of international human rights law.

Amnesty International called on the new US President to put human rights at the centre of his administration’s approach to counter-terrorism.

We asked President Barack Obama, during his first 100 days, to take 17 concrete steps towards closing Guantánamo and ending illegal detention, eradicating torture and other ill-treatment and ending impunity

At the end of the 100 days it is clear that significant steps have been taken, including some to undo damaging detention and interrogation policies developed under the previous administration.

But other changes have been more symbolic than substantial, and the little action taken by President Obama’s administration on accountability for past human rights violations has reinforced the impunity nurtured in the past.

Amnesty International appeals to President Obama to follow through on the promise he made at his inauguration – to reject as false the choice between security and ideals. Transparency, accountability and respect for international human rights must be the hallmark of his term in office.