Criticism of U.S. Guantánamo policy
Published: 02 February 2018 Author: Stefan Talmon
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 and the subsequent “war on terror”, U.S. President George W. Bush in January 2002 established a detention camp located at the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Over the years, the United States has detained there without trial some 780 persons it considers extremely dangerous terrorists. Several current and former detainees reported abuse and torture. U.S. President Barack Obama unsuccessfully tried to close the detention camp. By 2018, there were still 41 detainees held at Guantánamo.
On 30 January 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump announced in his State of the Union address that he had decided to keep open the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, suggesting that he may even use the facility to house new terrorism suspects for the first time in a decade. On the same day, he signed an Executive Order which provided in part: (more…)