This week marks 22 years since the opening of the illegal camps at Guantanamo Bay. In the decades-long story of Islamophobia in the name of security, Jan. 11, 2002 was a watershed moment in dehumanization, racism, and bastardization of constitutional and humanitarian law.
Created in the wake of 9/11 to house those suspected of terrorist activity, during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, while the naval base at Guantánamo Bay is under U.S. control, it is not technically American territory because the U.S. rents the land from the Cuban government under a coerced agreement signed in 1903, following the 1898 Spanish–American War. This uncertain legal status is one of the reasons Guantánamo Bay was chosen as a detention site; it has allowed the U.S. government to claim that the individuals held and detained at the base are not entitled to certain rights under U.S. laws.
Since then 779 Muslim men have been held without charge or trial , 35 men remain, 23 of which have never been charged with a crime. All of them have been subjected to tortured. Shockingly, people who have never had a trial are still detained there all these years later and heartbreakingly, more people have died than been charged. has housed up to 780 men, many of whom were later determined to be innocent of any wrongdoing after enduring years of abuse and unlawful detention. Today, 30 detainees remain, 19 of whom still have yet to be so much as charged with a crime.
Guantánamo was also home to one of many secret U.S. “black sites” documented in a 2014 Senate report on the CIA’s use of torture through so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques.” The Senate report determined that these techniques - which included waterboarding, lengthy sleep deprivation, acts of sexual assault, and years of solitary confinement -did not aid in counterterrorism efforts.
Even 22 years later, Guantánamo continues to be the subject of serious international scrutiny. Current and former Guantánamo detainees have provided harrowing accounts of their years in Guantánamo, which left them with crippling physical and mental illnesses, including heart problems, brain trauma, and PTSD. Many former detainees suffer relentless nightmares or fear of going outside.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/world/cia-torture-guantanamo-bay.html
Despite widespread agreement that the treatment detainees received in Guantánamo violated their most basic human rights,https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/01/guantanamo-bay-ugly-chapter-unrelenting-human-rights-violations-un-experts no one has ever been held accountable and while Guantánamo has largely faded from public attention, the prison and its enduring legacy continue to cast a dark shadow over the United States and its global reputation.
Allegations of Torture and Abuse: Reports of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment have plagued Guantanamo since its inception. Investigations by independent bodies have substantiated these claims, raising questions about the camp's compliance with international human rights law.
Guantanamo remains open despite promises to close it by both Presidents Obama and Biden and finally end its legacy of human rights abuses, yet dozens of these “forever prisoners” remain today.
Guantánamo.symbolises Islamophobia in the global War on Terror. Exclusively holding Muslim men, and leaves an indelible mark on the discourse surrounding human rights and justice and remains a symbol of torture, injustice and oppression.
As we mark this anniversary, we must not forget the individuals who have been held in this legal limbo for years, nor can we turn a blind eye to the erosion of legal principles that Guantanamo represents.
Recently, some of the most impactful reporting on Guantanamo has come from the findings of Fionnuala Ni Aolain, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/expert-welcomes-historic-visit-united-states-and-guantanamo-detention the United Nations special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights who visited Guantanamo.
She found enormous issues remain in health care, inhumane and arbitrary standard operating procedures, persistent shackling, and even in the naming of prisoners who are called by Interment Serial Numbers, not by name.
All of these and many other issues amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international law. She also found that current prisoners and survivors continue to live with a deep, profound psychological trauma, enormous anxiety, and pain caused by years of torture, inhumane treatment, and arbitrary and indefinite imprisonment.
For many prisoners, the dividing line between the torture of the past and their present conditions are paper thin. And yet, Guantanamo remains open.
"A reckoning is long overdue—a moment where acknowledgement of wrongdoing, sincere apologies to the victims, compensation and reparation for the survivors, and a commitment to justice and accountability are non-negotiable"
Around the world, Guantánamo is now a symbol of racial and religious injustice, abuse, and disregard for the rule of law. The US’s inability to close Guantanamo, release the full details of the torture program, and provide justice and redress for the many victims has shown other countries a path to open similar facilities and to avoid accountability.Guantánamo serves only to undermine human rights and the rule of law worldwide. By indefinitely detaining foreign Muslim men without charge, and holding no top US officials accountable for the abuses that they and other prisoners endured, the US signals to the world that it is acceptable to sideline rights and humane treatment in the name of countering terrorism.
This undercuts the US when it calls out other countries for secret detention, torture, and crackdowns on religious minorities and peaceful critics under the guise of security. And it undermines the very international human rights standards and institutions that the US worked so hard to create in the aftermath of World War II.
This is why we cannot forget Guantanamo and must continue to fight for its closure, and justice for its victims.It is outrageous that 22 years after the U.S. government opened the Guantanamo detention camp to detain Muslim men beyond the reach of U.S. law, that this abuse of human rights continues today. The commitment to close Guantanamo Bay must now become a reality. Ensuring that all detainees past and present can obtain justice and live out their lives in dignity is an urgent priority, and an obligation under international law.
Respect for the dignity of human life is not a reward, but a right. The U.S. has a responsibility to fully address the human rights violations committed at Guantánamo and close this dark chapter once and for all.
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