Guantanamo Bay

[[File:Guantanamo Cellblock, Camp Delta - 1.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Guantanamo Cellblock, Camp Delta - 1]]
{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|It validates every negative perception of the United States.|||Major-General Michael Lehnert, the first commander of the Gitmo detention camp<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-guantanamo-idUKBRE9BB0QT20131212 U.S. general who opened Guantanamo prison says shut it down] ''Reuters'' 12 December 2013</ref>}}
'''Guantanamo Bay''', or '''Gitmo''', is a [[United States]] naval base on the island of [[Cuba]].  Until the restoration of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba in June 2015, it was the only [[United States Armed Forces|US military]] base located in a country which [[Washington, DC|Washington]] did not have full diplomatic relations with. It remains the only U.S. military base opposed by the government of the hosting country.  

The base owes its existence to the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which gave the US Navy control over it (for some reason when the US invaded they decided to go all the way around the island, rather than cross from [[Florida|Miami]]).  When [[Fidel Castro]] took over, he declared the Treaty of Paris null and void, but supposedly [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dU4IMex4FU&feature=youtu.be&t=25s accepted the first rent check from the U.S.]  The U.S. considers this proof enough that the Cuban government is still bound by the Treaty.  

==Uses==
The naval base was used as the location for [[prison]] camps for [[Haiti]]an and Cuban refugees in the 1980s and 1990s, but since 2002 for [[war]] captives taken (or purchased) in the [[War on Terror]].  As such it is America's premier location for "spectacles of punishment."<ref>''Selling Guantánamo: Exploding the Propaganda Surrounding America's Most Notorious Military Prison'' by John Hickman (2013) University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813044552</ref> 780 prisoners in total were brought to the camp from 2002 onwards<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/guantanamo/about The Guantanamo Docket] ''The New York Times''</ref>, and approximately three-fourths of these prisoners hauled from the other side of the planet have been released, but 15 remain in [[Due process#In the United States|indefinite custody]].  

Seeking to avoid the requirements of international humanitarian law set out in the [[War crimes|Geneva Conventions]], the [[George W. Bush]] administration classified the prisoners as "[[Doublespeak|enemy]] [[Conservative correctness|combatants]]" and not as "prisoners of war."  Although none of the major [[human rights]] advocacy groups, such as the {{wpl|Red Cross}}, [[Human Rights Watch]] or [[Amnesty International]] have described it as such (though significantly criticizing it), [[Talk:Concentration camp#Gitmo as Concentration Camp...|some people]] believe that the Guantanamo Bay prison facility constitutes a [[concentration camp]]. 

The detention center has been a source of continual disgrace to the United States, and would be an embarrassment to the Bush administration, if they were capable of feeling shame, or still in power.

[[Michael Moore]] pointed out in his documentary ''Sicko'' that Guantanamo Bay offers [[universal health care|free health care]] to its detainees, as the United States is a "Contracting Party to the {{wpl|World Health Organization}}, and thus has accepted the principle that the "enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.'"<ref>[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/570963?ln=en UN Report on the Situation of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Section V.] ''United Nations Digital Library''</ref> Ironically, the United States has not extended the "fundamental right" of universal health care ''to its own citizens''.<ref group=note>As wrong as it may seem that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are given better health care than US citizens as a right, imprisonment of a person by a government makes that government responsible for the care of the prisoner as they can no longer provide it to their own self (such as by having a job and paying for health care). However, the U.S. government fares little better in this respect within its own territory &mdash; from state to state and county to county the well-being of prisoners can be extremely varied.</ref>

===Currently===
Almost immediately after taking office, [[President Obama]] ordered the closure of the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay, pending a six-month review of the details, and temporarily suspended all military tribunals in process there.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html?_r=2&hp Obama Orders Secret Prisons and Detention Camps Closed] ''New York Times'' 22 January 2009</ref> However, in May of that year, the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]]-controlled [[US Senate|Senate]] blocked funds to close down the camp.<ref>[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/30826649/ns/politics-capitol_hill/t/senate-blocks-transfer-gitmo-detainees/ Senate blocks transfer of Gitmo detainees] ''NBC News'' 20 May 2009</ref>  

In January 2011, Obama signed the [[NDAA|National Defense Authorization Act]] of Fiscal Year 2011, which prohibited the executive branch from using any funds to close down Guantanamo Bay.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46743.html#ixzz3COu3oc4n Plan to close Gitmo 'in shambles'] ''Politico'' 22 December 2010</ref> While the number of prisoners in Guantanamo bay decreased, in March 2011, the President allowed military tribunals to continue, effectively ending the push to close down the detention center at the time.

The push to close Guantanamo arose again in February 2016, when Obama sent a tripartite blueprint for the closure of Guantanamo Bay<ref>[https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/671225/statement-by-pentagon-press-secretary-peter-cook-on-submission-of-guantanamo-cl/ Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Submission of Guantanamo Closure Plan] ''US Department of Defense'' 23 February 2016</ref><ref>[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/GTMO_Closure_Plan_0216.pdf Plan for Closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility] ''Us Department of Defense'' 2016</ref> to [[Congress]]. It was immediately denounced by [[Republican]] congressmen and presidential candidates, receiving criticisms for its vagueness and intent to transfer 30-60 detainees deemed "too dangerous for release" to American soil (an action banned by law).<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/us/politics/obama-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0 Obama Sends Plan to Close Guantánamo to Congress] ''New York Times'' 23 February 2016</ref>. However, the plan failed and, as of 2020, Guantanamo remains open, largely due to a [[Donald Trump|Trump]] executive order which kept the camp open indefinitely.

As of 2023, 30 detainees remain at Guantanamo. The camp has been referred to as a "nursing home" in recent times due to its aging prison population. The prison has been judged to appear greatly ill-equipped to deal with such a population and their accompanying ailments.<ref>[https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2019/04/guantanamo-nursing-home-terrorist-suspects/156575/ Guantanamo Is Becoming a Nursing Home for Its Aging Terror Suspects] ''Defense One'' 26 April 2019</ref>

==See also==
*[[Arbitrary detention]]
*[[Civilian terror trial]]
*[[Abu Ghraib]]

==External links==
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/world/cia-torture-guantanamo-bay.html How U.S. torture left legacy of damaged minds.]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

[[Category:Civil rights]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Military]]
[[Category:United States law]]
[[Category:United States politics]]
[[Category:Government incompetence]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:War crimes]]
[[Category:Crimes against humanity]]

Categories: Civil rights, Geography, Military, United States law, United States politics, Government incompetence, Human rights, War crimes, Crimes against humanity