Editing Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (section)

=== Detention camp ===
{{Main|Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Cuban refugees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center}}
[[File:Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.jpg|thumb|The entrance to Camp 1 in detention camp's Camp Delta]]

Beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century, the base was used to house Cuban and [[Haitian refugee crisis|Haitian refugees]] intercepted on the high seas. In the early 1990s, it held refugees who fled Haiti after military forces overthrew president [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]]. These refugees were held in a detainment area called [[Camp Bulkeley]] until [[United States district court]] Judge [[Sterling Johnson, Jr.]] declared the camp unconstitutional on 8 June 1993. This decision was later [[Vacated judgment|vacated]]. The last Haitian migrants departed Guantanamo on 1 November 1995.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Beginning in 2002, following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, started in response to the [[September 11 attacks]], a small portion of the base was used to detain several hundred individuals with ties or suspected ties to Islamic terrorist groups such as [[al-Qaeda]] and the [[Taliban]]. These detainees were not afforded POW status or facing formal charges but instead designated [[enemy combatants]]; assigned to confinement in [[Camp Delta (Guantanamo Bay)|Camp Delta]], [[Camp Echo (Guantanamo Bay)|Camp Echo]], [[Camp Iguana (Guantanamo Bay)|Camp Iguana]], and the now-closed [[Camp X-Ray (Guantanamo)|Camp X-Ray]]. In litigation regarding the availability of [[fundamental rights]] to those imprisoned at the base, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] has recognized that the detainees "have been imprisoned in territory over which the United States exercises exclusive jurisdiction and control."<ref>''Rasul v. Bush'', 542 U.S. 466 (2004).</ref> Therefore, the detainees have the fundamental right to [[due process of law]] under the [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment]]. A district court has since held that the "Geneva Conventions applied to the Taliban detainees, but not to members of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization."<ref>''In re Guantanamo detainee Cases'', 355 F.Supp.2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005).</ref>

On 10 June 2006, the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] reported that three Guantanamo Bay detainees [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp suicide attempts|took their own lives]]. The military reported the men hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes.<ref name=WaPo060611>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/11/AR2006061100357.html DOD Identifies 3 Guantanamo Suicides], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 11 June 2006</ref> A [[Seton Hall reports|study published by Seton Hall]] Law's Center for Policy and Research, while making no conclusions regarding what actually transpired, asserts that the military investigation failed to address significant issues detailed in that report.<ref>[http://law.shu.edu/ProgramsCenters/PublicIntGovServ/policyresearch/center-policy-research.cfm Death in Camp Delta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228125628/http://law.shu.edu/ProgramsCenters/PublicIntGovServ/policyresearch/center-policy-research.cfm |date=28 December 2014 }}, Seton Hall University School of Law. (18&nbsp;MB)</ref>

On 6 September 2006, President [[George W. Bush]] announced that alleged or non-alleged combatants held by the CIA would be transferred to the custody of Department of Defense, and held at Guantanamo Prison. Of approximately 500 prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, only 10 have been [[military tribunal|tried]] by the [[Guantanamo military commission]], but all cases have been stayed pending the adjustments being made to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''[[Hamdi v. Rumsfeld]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions. |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/542/507.html |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=Findlaw |language=en-US}}</ref>

In January 2009, [[Barack Obama|President Obama]] signed an executive order directing the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html|title=Obama Orders Secret Prisons and Detention Camps Closed|access-date=22 January 2009 |work=The New York Times |first=Scott |last=Shane |date=23 January 2009}}</ref> This plan was thwarted for the time being on 20 May 2009, when the [[United States Senate]] voted to keep the prison at Guantanamo Bay open for the foreseeable future and forbid the transfer of any detainees to facilities in the United States. Senator [[Daniel Inouye]], a Democrat from Hawaii and chairman of the appropriations committee, said he favored keeping Guantanamo open until Obama produced a "coherent plan for closing the prison."<ref name="cbc">{{cite news| title=Senate Nixes Obama's Guantanamo Plan| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/senate-nixes-obama-s-guantanamo-plan-1.789725| publisher=CBC News| date=20 May 2009| access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref>
Consequently, Obama decided to postpone difficult decisions on the details for at least six months.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1016/p02s07-usgn.html|title=Obama's Guantánamo, Counterterror Policies Similar to Bush's?|author=Warren Richey|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=15 October 2009}}</ref>{{Better reference needed|date=August 2023}} On 7 March 2011, Obama issued a new executive order permitting indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.aclu.org/national-security/president-obama-issues-executive-order-institutionalizing-indefinite-detention|title=President Obama Issues Executive Order Institutionalizing Indefinite Detention|date=7 March 2011|publisher=[[American Civil Liberties Union]]}}</ref> This decision was codified into federal law by provision added to the [[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/obama-makes-it-official-suspected-terrorists-can-be-indefinitely-detained-without-trial/333690/ |title=Obama Makes It Official: Suspected Terrorists Can Be Indefinitely Detained Without a Trial|date=31 December 2011|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=5 July 2012|archive-date=1 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701131543/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/12/obama-makes-it-official-suspected-terrorists-can-be-indefinitely-detained-without-trial/46818/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In early February 2021, the administration of U.S. President [[Joe Biden]] declared his intention to shut down the facility before he leaves office.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Ellie Kaufman|title=Biden administration says it intends to close Guantanamo prison|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/politics/biden-guantanamo-bay/index.html|access-date=2021-02-12 |publisher=CNN |date=12 February 2021 }}</ref> He did not.

In July 2021, an additional detainee was released.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Carol|last2=Savage|first2=Charlie|date=2021-07-19|title=Biden Administration Transfers Its First Detainee From Guantánamo Bay|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/us/politics/guantanamo-bay-detainee-released.html|access-date=2021-08-26|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In June 2022, an Afghan prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay for about 15 years without trial was released.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Afghan held at Guantanamo Bay freed after 15 years without trial |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/24/afghan-prisoner-at-guantanamo-bay-released-after-15-years |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref>

In February 2023, three prisoners were released from Guantanamo Bay. [[Majid_Khan_(detainee)|Majid Khan]], who pleaded guilty before a Military Commission in 2012, had completed his sentence of 10 years, and was released to [[Belize]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3286127/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=defense.gov |language=en}}</ref> Brothers [[Abdul Al-Rahim Ghulam Rabbani]] and [[Mohammed Ahmad Ghulam Rabbani]], whose detentions were deemed no longer necessary in order to protect the United States from a national security threat, were released and repatriated to the government of [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3308522/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=defense.gov |language=en}}</ref>

In March 2023, [[Ghassan al-Sharbi]] was released to his home country of [[Saudi Arabia]] from Guantanamo Bay, after being deemed no longer necessary to detain in order to protect the United States from a national security threat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3323397/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=defense.gov |language=en}}</ref>

<!-- Note: changes to the detainee count should be made to Template:RemainingAtGuantanamo, and not here -->{{RemainingAtGuantanamo}}

In June 2023, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism [[Fionnuala Ní Aoláin]] released her final report on the detention center. The report concludes that prisoners endure "ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" and that the detention center should be closed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hernandez |first=Joe |date=2023-06-27 |title=Guantánamo Bay detainees continue to face 'inhuman' treatment, U.N. investigator finds |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/06/27/1184597427/guantanamo-bay-detainees-continue-to-face-inhuman-treatment-u-n-investigator-fin |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=2023-06-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-28 |title=UN report criticizes treatment of inmates at Guantanamo Bay as 'cruel' and 'inhuman' |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/un-report-criticizes-treatment-of-inmates-at-guantanamo-bay-as-cruel-and-inhuman |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-14 |title=Technical Visit to the United States and Guantánamo Detention Facility by the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/terrorism/sr/2023-06-26-SR-terrorism-technical-visit-US-guantanamo-detention-facility.pdf |access-date=2023-06-30 |publisher=United Nations Human Rights--Office of the High Commissioner}}</ref>

In early 2025, the [[Second presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] started sending numerous illegal migrants there, and he has stated that he intends to send the worst criminal migrants to the prison. Multiple groups and people have filed lawsuits against this, claiming that the prisoners do not have access to a lawyer or habeas corpus, and that the prisoners’ conditions were brutal enough that some have attempted suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-14 |title=Judge rules against advocates trying to help migrants sent to Guantanamo and to stop more transfers |url=https://apnews.com/article/guantanamo-bay-federal-judge-trump-administration-immigration-8ba17e20dabd8e8a5851bd2d5e4e3a59 |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>