Report from Reprieve's Guantánamo Conference in Tunisia

The conference called for the release of the remaining Tunisian men from Guantanamo.

While there are only a handful of Tunisians left at the base, what they symbolize is huge. Guantanamo marks a bleak chapter in America's history and the presence of Tunisians there only serves to highlight the extent of Ben Ali's dictatorship involvement in abusive American practices.

While US diplomats are now praising the new Tunisian democracy, the stories of Tunisians in Guantanamo show it was not ever thus. The Bush administration was perfectly cozy with Bin Ali's regime: it invited Tunisian agents to visit Guantanamo in order to threaten Reprieve client Hisham Sliti with 'water torture in the barrel'; it used tortured confessions out of Tunisia to find these men 'enemy combatants'; and it forced two other Tunisians back to Tunis, where they were tortured, in 2007.

Having visited Tunis three times since the Jasmine revolution, I believe what the Tunisian people want more than anything now is to truly turn over a new leaf. A key part of that is for the new government, whoever it is, to say: we want no part in indefinite detention in the new Tunisia, and we want no part in torture.

This is an unprecedented opportunity for the Obama administration. The Tunisians have clearly signaled their willingness to negotiate. There will be terms to iron out, to be sure, but it's time for the parties to come to the table.