A Closer Look at Guantanamo Bay

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is located inside the Guantanamo Bay Naval base in Cuba. It is also known as GTMO or Gitmo. There are many issues surrounding the camp, but this article will discuss human rights violations committed by the US military and its practices.Associated Press lawsuit against US Department of Defense
The Associated Press has filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense for the release of records of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The lawsuit asks the court to order the government to release transcripts of all tribunals and all documents that relate directly to the proceedings. The government has argued that such information should remain confidential, but the AP says there is a great deal of public interest in knowing who these men are.The lawsuit says that detainees are subjected to extraordinary abuses. These include solitary confinement, religious abuse, and sleep deprivation. In addition, physical abuse is routinely used as a form of punishment and is disproportionate to the alleged misconduct of the detainees. One plaintiff, Mustafa Ait Idir, claims that he suffered severe beatings in the camp and was left with a mild stroke. His lawyers claim that guards repeatedly pressed the toilet flush button on his face.Human rights violations at guantanamo bay
There are several concerns about the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. The military has been accused of committing numerous human rights violations, including torture, illegal detention, and other forms of ill-treatment. According to critics, these practices have weakened the US' moral authority and have served as propaganda for terrorist organizations. However, there is some research that disputes these claims.Regardless of the severity of the abuses, the conditions at the detention camp are unconscionable. Human rights experts have documented numerous instances of abuses and gross negligence. Many prisoners and workers at the detention camp have also testified to violations of legal rights. Inhumane and degrading conditions have made prisoners vulnerable to mental and physical harm.Number of detainees charged or proposed for trial at guantanamo bay
A new report shows that five Guantanamo Bay detainees may be brought to trial in civilian courts. The five men are accused of plotting to bomb oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz in 2000, which killed 17 Americans and injured dozens. The United States will try to convict these men of their crimes.Currently, the US government has detained thirty-six detainees in its prison at Guantanamo. Ten were charged by military commissions and two have been convicted, but many others remain there without trial. Seven of these men are being held indefinitely without trial while another twenty are under military commissions. Five of them are accused of participating in the September 11 attacks, and two have been convicted. The remaining four are under non-penal detention, but their trial could be many months away.While the number of detainees charged or proposed for trials at Guantanamo bay has dropped in recent years, there is still a large backlog. Only ten of the 39 who were charged with a crime have been transferred to a federal court. However, the process of finding a country that will accept them can be tricky. Despite efforts to free these men, many remain behind bars.Prisoner of war status at guantanamo bay
The controversial practice of holding suspected terrorists in prisons with "Prisoner of War" status at Guantanamo Bay has come under fire because of allegations of abuse and racial injustice. Many detainees claim to have been deprived of due process and suffered grave abuses, some ranging to torture.In the months following the attack on the World Trade Center, the Bush Administration deemed all of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay "illegal combatants" and declared that they could remain there indefinitely without a trial. The law also allowed the administration to hold them indefinitely, even if they were found not guilty of terrorism-related crimes. The Rasul decision led to the establishment of Combatant Status Review Tribunals, which provide a platform for detainees to challenge their designation as enemy combatants. The Pentagon announced that these reviews would occur annually.While the US administration continues to assert that it treats detainees at Guantanamo humanely, this is a hollow commitment if the military has no evidence to back up their claims. This is a problem because the law covers even the worst crimes and enables judges to judge them. However, this loophole could easily be exploited by less scrupulous states, and the detainees in Guantanamo are not protected by international law.Legal challenges to detainees' detention at guantanamo bay
The detainees' detention at Guantanamo Bay has been the subject of numerous legal challenges. Many have argued that they were wrongly detained and are not engaged in any hostile activity against the United States. Many also deny any affiliation with Al Qaeda or the Taliban.Since the prison opened, the Center for Constitutional Rights has led the legal fight against the indefinite detention of detainees at Guantanamo. It represents dozens of former and current detainees. It has won landmark cases in the Supreme Court, which recognized U.S. court jurisdiction over the prison and affirmed detainees' right to habeas corpus review. In addition, it has organized a network of hundreds of pro bono lawyers who represent detainees at Guantanamou.The Supreme Court has rejected Bush administration efforts to bar federal courts from reviewing cases at Guantanamo, recognizing that the courts can rule on habeas corpus petitions filed by foreign nationals held outside the U.S. under the Geneva Conventions. The majority opinion in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld held that the United States has exclusive rights to detain enemy combatants as long as they are subject to the law of war.