What Is Guantanamo Bay?

Did you know, as American taxpayers, maintaining the prison at Guantánamo has costed $4.8 billion since it had opened in 2002? Well this al back to “ The Global War on Terror” under the Bush administration that,. response to the 9/11 attacks, targeted middle eastern regions of the world;, collecting men from left to right by heavily armed American soldiers. Unfortunately, some of them are destined to pay for another man’s crime by serving time in Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay, located within a naval base in Cuba, became a facility purposed to hold alleged enemy combatants and terrorists alike. Because of later documented injustices reported against detainees, it gained negative spotlight by both citizens and world leaders. When Obama succeeded in presidency, closing the facility became one of his priorities for a number of reasons.

The prison gained international notoriety after Amnesty International published reports of abuses such as rape, murder and sodomy. According to an article written by, The Newyorker called, Chain of command, Soldiers such as, Charles Graner and Lynndie England, were sentenced to years in prison. They were charged for a series of human rights violations such as, aggravated assault and battery, and malnutrition. It is said that they committed more violations, but it can’t be proven. In the Abu Ghraib prison, detainees were constantly beaten and humiliated, they were stripped naked and put on leashes forced to crawl around like a dog for hours at a

Guantanamo Bay hasn't always been a jail like facility, with the ability to torture terrorists. Cuba is located in southern east point in cuba(“Cuba”). After the Spanish-american war ended (1898) we got a piece of land in cuba as a trophy for winning the war.(“Guantanamo”). The U.S. military controlled cuba in 1899(“Cuba”). Before terrorism the main purpose of Guantanamo

Guantanamo Bay known as “Gitmo” is also known as a naval base but for right now it is also known as a place where they keep muslim militants and suspected terrorists captured by the U.S. forces, from Iraq and Afghanistan. “Guantanamo Bay detention facility on the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, located on the coast of Guantanamo Bay in southeastern Cuba.” (Nolen) Guantanamo Bay is a dangerous place where people are tortured and punished until they tell the soldiers information that they need. "I have been on record in favor of closing Guantanamo for a long time, since 2008. I think it is a continuing recruitment advertisement for terrorists… There is no reason for us to

First off, the Guantanamo Bay is the oldest existing U.S. Military base. It is located near the northern tip of Cuba. The base is in approximately a forty-five square mile area. Even though it is said to be a U.S. Military base its actually located just outside of the country. Although the base is just outside of the U.S., It is still in the country's control. The Guantanamo Bay is an extremely old military base that is now in the

The article “Why Guantanamo Bay must be closed for good” by Jonathan Russell denotes the existence of Guantanamo Bay, a maximum security prison off the coast of Cuba. Russell begins by saying that Guantanamo Bay is ineffective because it does not prevent terrorism in other parts of the world. In fact, the existence of Guantanamo Bay fuels terrorist to carry out more terrorist attacks as an act of defiance. Additionally, most people who go to the prison do not get the right to a fair trial as guaranteed by the fifth and sixth amendments. The prison is notorious for its torture of its prisoners. Prisoners face waterboarding, electric shocking, sexual humiliation and are even deprived of sleep. The torture is supposed to make prisoners reveal

The base was originally intended to house Haitian and Cuban refugees prior to GITMO being declared unconstitutional in 1993, but since 2002 however, the base has been largely used as a detention center or prison camp for detainees who were considered enemy combatants and for whom normal legal rules and protections did not apply.

Guantanamo Bay opened for its main purpose in late 2001 shortly after the United States went to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks2. Since 2001, Guantanamo Bay has held around 800 people. 2002 was when the first suspected terrorist was imprisoned and since then the numbers have been slowly decreasing. Slowly prisoners have been found innocent or have had lack of evidence to prove that they are guilty, but are still being held captive.3 There are a few reasons as to why those who have been cleared to be transferred or released but have not been.

Is waterboarding suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay justifiable in order to save American lives? For years since the attacks on 9/11, prisoners suspected of terrorist actions have been treated poorly and taken to bases like Guantanamo Bay where they are interrogated and abused past levels of legality. This is upsetting how the United States government tortures people only suspected of terrorist activity. There have been many incidents where innocent people were accused of terrorist activity and harassed. After the bombing of the Boston Marathon, three innocent muslim men were put in custody to answer some questions on the bombing (Friedersdorf). The innocent men had done nothing wrong but the United States has a history of fighting terrorism in a very forceful way. Is it “okay” to question anyone without legal justification? In the US, the fear of terrorism has

Alcatraz was built as a maximum security prison, it was capable of escape but prisoners never made it off the island alive. This prison on the water was built to hold the most dangerous criminals, because it was the hardest prison to escape from. Today you can visit and or tour Alcatraz it is now a national park for people to witness some of the stuff prisoners had to go through being there. Alcatraz has a lot of things people don’t know about it like what was the purpose, how many deaths/escapes and the history behind it.

Since these photos were released, two differing sides regarding Guantanamo Bay have emerged. Some find it to be a place where brutality and illegality are rampant; and some find it to be a necessary evil in order to protect the wellbeing of America. Currently, a military controlled prison still resides in Guantanamo Bay housing nearly 200 individuals; and the debate regarding the fate of the operation continues (Dziedzic).

Gitmo was compared to Spandau Prison because it was once named the most expensive prison in the world to operate so when ask if this comparison is fair. I will say yes it is. THe reason for my answer is because they held criminals that were really suspects and and where of crimes without any shown evidence. These Nazi’s war prisoners were held 1947 until the last death of a prisoner in 1986 (Bohm & Haley, 2014).

Guantanamo Bay, though started with good intentions, only highlights America’s negative side. Marine Major General Michael Lehnert, who played a significant role in the opening of Guantanamo, has drastically changed his opinion and said that it, “Validates every negative perception of the U.S.” (Sutton 1). One example of this occurred in 2006, when President Bush justified the use of “physical coercion” (torture) during interrogations (Fetini 1). Some of these torture methods include isolation, beatings, sleep deprivation, and general abuse. Other tactics such as disrespect for Islamic symbols or sexual provocation are used to encourage stress in detainees (Bloche 1). These immoral methods led to an international outcry. It was later remarked that the Cuban territory upon which Guantanamo is located is being used as a “concentration camp” of sorts (Fetini 1). Guantanamo and its unethical values are being recognized by nations around the world, displaying America in a bad light.

In the United States, one of the major methods in obtaining crucial information has been through the use of Guantanamo Bay. While many have condemned of the torture that is believed to occur there, not only does Guantanamo Bay comply with national and international standards, but it also complies with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions (Meese 1) which states

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is originally a naval base that was once used to house detention facilities for Haitian and Cuban refugees fleeing to the United States. It was also used as a refueling station for Navy ships. It was then converted into a high level detention facility to house enemy troops captured in the War on Terror campaign by Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfield. It has three main camps that house the prisoners. These prisoners of war were later referred to as enemy combatants. They were excluded from the prisoner of war statutes of the Geneva Convention because of their involvement in a foreign terrorist organization and therefore earning themselves the title of terrorists. The Guantanamo Bay Detention Center served as the perfect location to send these terrorists. It allowed the United States to strip them of any due process or protection that is provided by US law. Due to its location, being in foreign territory they are only subjected to military law. They are close enough for them to be monitored without interference of intentional agencies or international oversight. Furthermore, the US Government is holding these men without due process because they are deemed too dangerous to be released into the public because of their associations with terrorist organizations and possession of valuable information relating to National Security such as location of key members of a terrorist groups, whereabouts. However, the United States cannot release those