Guantánamo Bay turns 10

“… or else deprive others of it”

Happy birthday, Gitmo!

On January 11, 2012, the United States' detention center at Guantanamo Bay marked its 10th year in operation.

The U.S. base in Cuba received its first 20 detainees on January 11, 2002, who were imprisoned as part of America's global 'War on Terror.' Over the next ten years, 779 prisoners would be transfered to Guantanamo, according to U.S. figures. The detainees were considered 'illegal enemy combatants,' a definition that allowed the administration to hold them indefinitely and without charges.

Throughout the years, the facility has been heavily criticized. According to Human Rights Watch, only one of the remaining 171 detainees at Guantanamo faces formal charges. ^{[my emphasis]}

And may you stand for many decades more as a perennial salute to the U.S.’s crown achievement in criminal justice and foreign policy-making.

(via The Agitator)

Tags: Guantanamo Bay • Gitmo • Human Rights Watch • indefinite detention • due process