Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Center Chairman and Council Board Member Join Obama for Signing of Guantanamo Closure Order

by Robert G. Gard [contact information]

January 22, 2009

On January 22, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that closes the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within one year. The order also ends the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret overseas prison program and bans torture.

Joining Obama at the Oval Office signing ceremony was Lt. General Robert Gard, chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Gard has been highly involved in efforts to stop torture and shut down Guantanamo, including as a member of the bipartisan Campaign to Ban Torture. Below is a picture and video clip from the January 22 signing ceremony.

President Obama signs an executive order closing Guantanamo Bay. Center chairman Lt. Gen. Robert Gard is at far right with red and blue striped tie (Getty image).

Brigadier General John Johns, board member of the Center's sister organization, the Council for a Livable World, was also present at the signing due to his advocacy for closing Guantanamo.

Brigadier General John Johns, board member of the Council for a Livable World, stands behind President Obama as he signs the executive order closing Guantanamo Bay. Johns is the first man on the far left.

For more details about how torture undermines America’s moral credibility, read General Gard’s June 2008 Orlando Sentinel op-ed, “Torture Erodes America’s High Ground in World.”

See also "Torture and National Security," by Brigadier General John Johns.