The UN’s torture investigator said that European countries should take in those Guantanamo inmates who cannot be sent home when the U.S.-run prison closes.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has said he intends to shut the Guantanamo Bay detention centre once he takes office, a move that could see some detainees released and others charged in U.S. courts.
There are now about 250 inmates in Guantanamo.
UN torture expert Manfred Nowak says many of the inmates who would be released would face persecution if they were deported to their home countries. Human rights campaigners have said at least 40-50 inmates would seek asylum in Europe.
"I think there are more," Nowak told reporters in Geneva. "Even if it’s more than 100, I think there is a responsibility also of European allies who cooperated closely with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism."
Nowak said several European countries had expressed willingness to take the men in. He declined to identify the countries involved, except to say that Albania and Sweden have already taken in a handful.