For lawyers and activists involved in the battle to end the Guantanamo prison, efforts have turned into a struggle against its forgetting.
The accountability of the United States for abuses committed in the War on Terror is seen as an even more distant horizon, they assess.
The issue was elevated to a priority during the Barack Obama administration (2009-2017), which promised to close the detention center within a year. It failed. His successor, Donald Trump (2017-2021), reversed that order. Joe Biden resumed the flag of the former Democratic president, but amid two wars and a reelection dispute, it took a back seat.
"Someone told me in a conversation that they thought Obama had closed Guantanamo. There's no more publicity for that," says lawyer Thomas Wilner, who represents Yemeni detainee Khaled Ahmed Qassim, held since 2002.
The account is not just an anecdote. Among the most common Google searches in the US related to the prison, according to the Answer The Public platform, are "which president closed Guantanamo?", "Does Guantanamo still exist?" and "Is there still anyone in Guantanamo?"
Wilner is a co-founder, along with British reporter Andy Worthington, of the Close Guantanamo group, which brings together jurists, journalists, and retired military personnel. Years ago, gatherings about the prison drew hundreds of people; now, 30 show up, he says.
"I really thought we could convince the political wing, years ago, to stop this terrible thing. But now everything is so overshadowed by other issues, and Congress, so divided, that these few foreigners in Guantanamo are not a high priority for anyone," says the lawyer.