Prof. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin Interviewed in Forever Wars About Ex-Guantánamo Detainees Losing International Law Protections

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Regents Professor and Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society, was interviewed in Forever Wars regarding at least 24 ex-Guantánamo detainees who have been expelled from Oman to their native Yemen. Advocates for the detainees said that Oman has compromised the principle of “non-refoulement,” which holds that countries may not send asylum-seekers, ex-prisoners or others to a country of origin where such people remain at risk of retribution.  Prof. Ní Aoláin, former U.N. special rapporteur for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said, “This term non-refoulement contains a simple idea, which is one of our oldest international law protections, basically that a person should never be sent back to a country where he could be the subject of torture or life-threatening harm. Non-refoulement should be an absolute protection, because countries like Oman have a choice to protect these vulnerable torture survivors or not. Sending these men to Yemen puts them in profound danger.”