Following the conflict in Afghanistan, the George W. Bush administration established the controversial detention and interrogation facility Guantanamo Bay, located within Guantanamo Base Naval, Cuba. The first group of 20 detainees would arrive on January 11, 2002.
In the 10 years of the camp’s existence there have been 775 detainees accused of having links with Al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Most of these prisoners have been released without any charges and transferred back to their home countries.
As of 2012, 171 detainees remain in Guantanamo Bay with their future in as much doubt as ever. According to the latest figures released by the Defense Intelligence Agency and published by the Miami Herald, there are 46 prisoners who have been deemed as “indefinite detainees” who will neither be charged nor released. 89 prisoners are eligible for release or transfer but are still held, 6 face death penalty trials, 4 are convicted war-criminals and 1 is serving a life sentence.
Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to close-down Guantanamo Bay has turned into a prolonged impasse with Congress throughout his first-term in office. Congress has thwarted the possibility of transferring detainees, while neglecting to finance the trials of Guantanamo captives in the United States.
Obama’s initial plan to relocate the prisoners to the Thompson Correctional Center in Illinois was flatly refuted. The Republican base rejected this ambitious proposition on the basis that the prisoners were too dangerous and expensive to have on American soil. On January 7, 2011 Mr. Obama signed the Defense Authorization Bill which prevents the transfer of Guantanamo captives to the mainland or any other foreign country, and thus creating another setback in the closing of Guantanamo Bay.
The president’s inability to make advancements on this lingering issue has provoked fury among his Democratic base who have associated Guantanamo Bay as one of the many failures of George W. Bush’s presidency. Widespread reports of torture and suicides of detainees throughout the years have made Guantanamo incredibly unpopular with the public, and this along with many other issues is reflected through Congress’ all-time low approval rating.
The United States has struggled to find international co-operation on Guantanamo Bay, as not surprisingly the idea of having some of the ‘worst of the worst’ prisoners has not proved popular with any country.
Guantanamo Bay has proved to be a decisive tool from which to criticise the United States of America. Many argue that it has allowed the terrorists to view America with even greater abhorrence and America has damaged its own credibility by ‘unlawfully detaining’ these prisoners without the protections entitled to them by the Geneva Conventions.
After 10 years, the closure of Guantanamo Bay seems distant. America’s standing in the world has once again been brought into question following the recent video of U.S marines urinating on Taliban corpses which has sparked worldwide outrage.
If a Republican is elected in this year’s presidential election, the Guantanamo issue will most likely be pushed even further back on the political agenda. Detainees face the prospect of another decade behind bars. As Mr. Obama stated in 2008, Guantanamo Bay has proved to be a “sad chapter in American history” and it is one that refuses to go away.
Christopher Alvarado
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