Guantanamo

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Guantanamo Bay History

"Guantanamo Bay history." CBC. CBC News, 1 May 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2010.<http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/22/f-gitmo.html>.

The U.S. has occupied the Guantanamo base since 1898, leasing it from Cuba for some $4,000 per year and maintaining it throughout the Cold War. Cuba has refused to cash the rent cheques, calling the 116-square-kilometre base "a dagger pointed at Cuba's heart." It is in Guantanamo where the detainees from what the U.S. calls the global war on terror have been kept.

Chandler Mandell

Background Information on Guantánamo Bay

"Obama preparing order to close Gitmo ." msnbc. msnbc.com, 12 Jan. 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28624679/>.

Guantanamo Bay is a United States Naval Base in southeastern Cuba. Since January 2002, thousands of detainees connected to the War on Terror have been housed at "Gitmo." The naval base, nicknamed "GTMO" or "Gitmo", covers 116 km² (about 45 square miles) on the western and eastern banks of the bay. It was established in 1898, when the United States took control of Cuba from Spain following the Spanish-American War.

Chandler Mandell

Incidents at Guantanamo Bay

The Torture of Prisoners

The Center for Constitutional Rights. Report on the Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment of Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. New York: The Center for Constitutional Rights, July 2006. PDF. http://ccrjustice.org/files/Report_ReportOnTorture.pdf

This report focuses on the experiences of prisoners inside Guantanamo Bay prison. Appearing in this report are specific accounts of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment drawn directly from prisoners statements made to counsel during in-prison interviews conducted at Guantanamo Bay. The file addresses the psychological abuse, physical abuse, medical abuse, sexual provocation, rape and harassment, and religious and cultural abuse the prisoners have experienced. This source offers research information and constitutes a negative view towards the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Lauren Hajnos

Justice Issues

Gutman, Roy, Christopher Dickey, Sami Yousafzai, and Ron Moreau. "Guantanamo Justice?" Newsweek 8 July 2002: 34. Military and Government Collection. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=15&hid=109&sid=b40ad102-d9bc-4a63-b52e-a45bfe674353%40sessionmgr111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=mth&AN=6898914

This article discusses the detention of terrorism suspects at a United States facility in Cuba. It focuses on the issue of the rights of the prisoners and the idea that the prisoners have no access to lawyers. It includes comments from previous U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld concerning this issue. The outlook for trials and detention of the prisoners is discussed and there is a specific example mentioned about the prisoner, Abdullah Kamel. The article tries to address the issue that if someone is mistakenly accused they have no way to prove themselves innocent. This source offers research and specific examples of the issue addressed. Again, a negative view of the prison at Guantanamo Bay is portrayed.

Lauren Hajnos

The Cover Up

Leung, Rebecca. "Torture, Cover-Up At Gitmo?" 60 Minutes. CBS News, 1 May 2005. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/28/60minutes/main691602.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

In an interview aired on the popular CBS show, 60 Minutes, Sgt. Erik Saar, a soldier who spent three months in the interrogation rooms at Guantanamo, recounts the bizarre and sadistic treatment of prisoners in the American prison camp. He talks about specific interrogations and the inappropriate actions of specific interrogators. Saar also addresses the fact that information about the treatment of Guantanamo detainees was kept secret for such a long period of time because when congressmen and senators would visit, prisoner interrogations were staged. This particular source would fall under the news category of information and also has a negative view on Guantanamo.

Lauren Hajnos