GUANTANAMO
The hellish prison maintaines by the United States Government
The United States has maintained a military presence on the Island of Cuba ever since it imposed a treaty agreement in 1903 when it settled the Spanish-American War. Even following the Castro takeover of Cuba in 1960, the Cuban government has not acquired control over its southern coast. Following the attack on the World Trade Center buildings in New York in 2001, the U.S. has used its presence at Guantanamo to establish and operate a prison for holding alleged terrorists on this site which lies outside of U.S. proper and avoids court jurisdiction. Efforts to close the prison have been rejected by Congress. The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, including the detention camp, is operated by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) of the Southern Command of the Department of Defense (DOD). The main detention compound is Camp Delta, which replaced the temporary Camp X-Ray in April 2002, with other compounds including Camp Echo, Camp Iguana, and the Guantanamo psychiatric ward. The base occupies 45 square miles of land and water.
The prison at Guantanamo Bay has held as many as 750 prisoners in detention, but that has now been whittled down to fewer than 25 as a result of releases. Some of these prisoners are known to have been involved in the conspiracy to attack the World Trade Center but some of those being held are being held without evidence. Their fate remains undetermined.
The 2021 movie The Mauritanian with Jodi Foster, Tahar Rabin and Benedict Cumberbach tells the true story of Mohamedou Duld Slahi, a Mauritanian who, in the wake of the WTC attack, was picked up by ICE In Mauritania and transferred to Guantanamo, despite the lack of any evidence being asserted against him. Slahi was held for six years before a court found him innocent and who subsequently spent another seven years incarcerated before his release. It represents a black mark against U.S. Justice. In January 2025, the prison held only 15 detainees but more recent population numbers are not known. The Trump Administration has signed a memorandum to begin expansion of the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center to house up to 30,000 migrants under detention, separate from the military prison but under military guard. The migrant facility is being run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Trump has signed a memorandum for an unnumbered “additional detention space” – so plans are in the works for even greater expansion.
Guantanamo has been a U.S. military base ever since 1903 and a prison only since 2001. Whatever its merits for being a military base, its locale as a detention center needs to be brought to a close – and should not be used for the detention of immigrants, whether legal or not. It lies outside of the United States and is beyond the jurisdiction of civil courts, leaving only military courts in Guantanamo to determine the fate of its detainees. Reports of abuse and torture have been reported. The cost to maintain the detention facility, apart from the military base, is extraordinary and should be terminated. Trump has signed an Executive Order to keep the prison open indefinitely.