Background

• Background: Established in 1903 in Cuba, Cuban govt disputes legality
• Detention Facility: holds captured al Qaeda and Taliban operatives, U.S. denies violating Intl law
• Controversy: Indefinite detainment and allegations of torture
• Recent Cases and Legislation: Supreme court cases, Military Commissions Act

Background

• Guantanamo Bay detainment camp is both a military prison and interrogation camp in Guantn0061mo Bay, Cuba. A perpetual lease of the land was obtained by the United States in the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty. The Bay's southern portion holds the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base which was established in 1898. The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantn0061mo illegal that the treaty violates Article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention, which declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law. However, Article 4 of the document states that Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties cannot be applied retroactively. In the 1970s, the Naval Base began holding Cuban and Haitian refugees intercepted at sea until a U.S. District Court Judge declared the camp unconstitutional in 1993.

Detention Facility

• In June 2005, the United States Department of Defense announced a contract with Halliburton corporation to build a new $30 million detention facility and security perimeter around the base. The new facility has held suspected militant combatants from Afghanistan and Iraq. Because the facility is located outside of U.S. territory, sovereignty of Guantn0061mo Bay ultimately resides in Cuba. The Bush Administration has argued that this facility is not subject to U.S. law and therefore, U.S. courts have no jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of the detention of foreign nationals captured abroad and incarcerated at Guantn0061mo Bay.

Controversy

• The controversy over the facility revolves around the legal status and treatment of incarcerated foreign nationals. The detainees held by the United States are classified as "enemy combatants" and the Department of Defense claims that these prisoners are not entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions, a set of international treaties that protect non-combatives and prisoners of war. Prisoners have been subject to extrajudicial detention, indefinite imprisonment, and abusive interrogation that constitutes torture, all of which are considered illegal under international law and U.S. law. Approximately 380 detainees are held at Guantn0061mo and nearly 400 have already been released. The Pentagon plans to put only 75 on trial and transfer 80 to other countries. The Bush administration has received intense international criticism for its use of the detention center and its policies regarding detainees.

• Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) launched its national tour of a life-size Guantanamo prison cell replica in Miami to increase public awareness and mount pressure on the Bush administration to close down the U.S.-controlled detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Many participants, dressed in Guantanamo-style orange boiler-suits, held signs urging the U.S. government to stop the torture, end indefinite detentions without charge or trial and shut down Guantanamo. (Source: Amnesty International)

Recent Court Rulings and Legislation

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration's interpretation of the Geneva conventions in 2006.
• Military Commissions Act, signed into law by Mr Bush in October 2006, has virtually abolishing the right of any non-American deemed an enemy combatant to challenge his indefinite detention before American courts.
• In April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear two separate challenges to the constitutionality of the Military Commissions Act, which argued it improperly did away with the principle of habeas corpus.

Debate

Country Comparison

Recent Developments

Additional Information