Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Guantanamo Bay detention camp
Guantanamo Bay detention camp is located in Cuba
Guantanamo Bay detention camp
LocationGuantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba
Coordinates19°54′03″N 75°05′59″W / 19.90083°N 75.09972°W / 19.90083; -75.09972
StatusOperational
Population30 (as of April 2023)
OpenedJanuary 11, 2002; 22 years ago (January 11, 2002)
Managed byUnited States Navy

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp,[note 1] also known as GTMO or GITMO (/ˈɡɪtmoʊ/ GIT-moh), is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in January 2002 by U.S. President George W. Bush to hold terrorism suspects and "illegal enemy combatants" during the Global War on Terrorism following the attacks of September 11, 2001. As of August 2024, at least 780 persons from 48 countries have been detained at the camp since its creation, of whom 740 had been transferred elsewhere, 9 died in custody, and 30 remain; only 16 detainees have ever been charged by the U.S. with criminal offenses.[1]

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, the U.S. declared its "war on terror" effort and led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to dismantle Al-Qaeda and capture its leader, Osama bin Laden. During the invasion, on November 13, 2001, President Bush issued a military order allowing for the indefinite detention of foreign nationals without charge and preventing them from legally challenging their detention. The following month, the U.S. Department of Justice claimed that habeas corpus—a legal recourse against unlawful detention—did not apply to Guantanamo Bay because it was outside of U.S. territory. Subsequently, in January 2002, a temporary detention facility dubbed "Camp X-Ray" was created to house suspected Al-Qaeda members and Taliban fighters primarily captured in Afghanistan.[2]

By May 2003, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had grown into a larger and more permanent facility that housed over 680 prisoners, the vast majority without formal charges.[3][2][4] The Bush Administration maintained that it was not obliged to grant prisoners basic protections under the U.S. Constitution or the Geneva Conventions, since the former did not extend to foreign soil and the latter did not apply to "unlawful enemy combatants". Various humanitarian and legal advocacy groups claimed that these policies were unconstitutional and violated international human rights law;[5][6] several landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions found that detainees had rights to due process and habeas corpus but were still subject to military tribunals, which remain controversial for allegedly lacking impartiality, independence, and judicial efficiency.[7][8]

In addition to restrictions on their legal rights, detainees are widely reported to have been housed in unfit conditions and routinely abused and tortured, often in the form of "enhanced interrogation techniques".[9][10] As early as October 2003, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned of "deterioration in the psychological health of a large number of detainees".[11] Subsequent reports by international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as intergovernmental institutions such as the Organization of American States and the United Nations, concluded that detainees have been systematically mistreated in violation of their human rights.[11][12]

Amid multiple legal and political challenges, as well as consistent widespread criticism and condemnation both domestically and internationally, the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay has been subject to repeated calls and efforts for closure. President Bush, while maintaining that the facility was necessary and that prisoners were treated well, nonetheless expressed his desire to have it closed in the beginning of 2005.[13] His administration began winding down the detainee population in large numbers, ultimately releasing or transferring around 540.[2] In 2009, Bush's successor, Barack Obama, issued executive orders to close the facility within one year and identify lawful alternatives for its detainees; however, strong bipartisan opposition from the U.S. Congress, on the grounds of national security, prevented its closure.[14] During the Obama Administration, the number of inmates was reduced from about 250 to 41, but controversial policies such as the use of military courts were left in place.[15][16] In January 2018, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the detention camp open indefinitely,[17] and only one prisoner was repatriated during his administration.[18] Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has vowed to close the camp before his term ends,[19][20] although his administration has continued with multimillion-dollar expansions to military commissions and other Guantanamo Bay facilities.[21][22][23]

Following the release of 10 detainees from Guantanamo by April 2023,[24][25][26][27] 30 detainees remain as of June 2024;[28] of these, 16 are awaiting transfer, 11 have been charged or convicted of war crimes, and three are held in indefinite law-of-war detention without facing tribunal charges nor being recommended for release.[1]


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ a b Times, The New York (18 May 2021). "The Guantánamo Docket". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Timeline: 20 years of Guantanamo Bay prison". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo: II. The Range of Prison Facilities at Guantanamo". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  4. ^ Haddad, Mohammed. "Guantanamo Bay explained in maps and charts". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  5. ^ Guantanamo and Illegal Detention Archived 15 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Amnesty International. Retrieved 3 November 2016
  6. ^ "Guantanamo". Center for Constitutional Rights. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  7. ^ "The high cost of Guantanamo's 'forever prisoners' | Human Rights Watch". 4 May 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  8. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (2 July 2024). "The Many Challenges at Guantánamo Bay, Encapsulated in One Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Guantanamo Bay: "Ugly chapter of unrelenting human rights violations" – UN experts". OHCHR. Archived from the original on 2 July 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  10. ^ Shamsi, Hina (11 January 2022). "20 Years Later, Guantánamo Remains a Disgraceful Stain on Our Nation. It Needs to End. | ACLU". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on 25 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b Rights, IACHR: Inter-American Commission on Human (6 March 2015). "IACHR: Towards the Closure of Guantanamo". IACHR: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  12. ^ "UN report criticizes treatment of inmates at Guantanamo Bay as 'cruel' and 'inhuman'". PBS News. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Pentagon review clears 38 of "enemy combatant" status". The Seattle Times. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  14. ^ Herszenhorn, David (5 November 2015). "Senate Passes Military Bill that Bans Transfers of Guantanamo Detainees". The New York Times. New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  15. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (19 January 2017). "Obama to leave with 41 captives still at Guantánamo, blames politics". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  16. ^ Wittes, Benjamin; Wyne, Zaahira (30 November 2001). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantanamo: An Empirical Study". www.brookings.edu. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference TrumpOrder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (17 June 2021). "Two More Guantánamo Detainees Are Cleared for Transfer to Other Nations". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  19. ^ Kaufman, Ellie (19 September 2021). "Biden administration has made little progress towards goal of closing notorious Guantanamo Bay prison". www.cnn.com. CNN. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  20. ^ Ellie Kaufman (12 February 2021). "Biden administration says it intends to close Guantanamo prison". CNN. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  21. ^ "How Many Inmates Are There At Guantanamo Bay?". WorldAtlas. 23 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Biden Promised to Close Gitmo. Instead, He's Upgrading It". news.yahoo.com. 5 January 2022. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  23. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (30 December 2021). "Pentagon Building New Secret Courtroom at Guantánamo Bay". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  24. ^ Rosenberg, Carol; Savage, Charlie (19 July 2021). "Biden Administration Transfers Its First Detainee From Guantánamo Bay". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  25. ^ Kim, Juliana (29 October 2022). "The U.S. releases the oldest prisoner in Guantanamo Bay". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  26. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (2 February 2023). "Tortured Guantanamo Detainee Is Freed in Belize". The New York Times. New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  27. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (8 March 2023). "U.S. Military Repatriates Saudi Engineer from Guantánamo Bay". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  28. ^ Lee, Carol E.; Kube, Courtney (20 April 2023). "Guantanamo population drops to 30; Biden admin wants to cut it more". NBC News. Archived from the original on 29 May 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.