Close Guantánamo prison, says first US commander on 12th anniversary

• Major General Michael Lehnert says facility is a liability
• 'Terrorists aim to change our behaviour. They have succeeded'

On the 12th anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, the first commanding general of the base has said that it should be closed.

In a statement released by the advocacy organisation Human Rights First, Major General Michael Lehnert who has spoken out on the issue before said: While there were compelling operational reasons to stand up Guantánamo prison early in the war [in Iraq and Afghanistan], we squandered international goodwill and lost opportunities by failing to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and to our own rule of law. Those decisions turned Guantánamo into a liability.