Guantanamo Bay

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States military located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in January 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees it had determined to be connected with opponents in the Global war on Terror.

It has often been in news because current and former prisoners have reported abuse and torture. Further, since high value prisoners involved in the WTC attack in 2001 have been lodged here, it is often in news for one reason or the other.

There have been instances of reported suicides. Accusations of torture by using humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes etc. have also been in news.

In light of these issues, President Barack Obama had promised to close down the detention camp in 2009. He has reaffirmed his commitment again in 2013.

However, after years of inaction his recommitment is being taken less seriously. Most of the roadblocks in closing down the camp have come from the U.S. Congress itself. It has restricted the use of funds to transfer detainees to the US for trial, while imposing conditions that make transfers out of the US more difficult.

The Defence Authorization Bill signed by President Obama contained provisions that place restrictions on the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to the mainland or to other foreign countries, thus impeding the closure of the detention facility. 

The plan to close down the camp also encountered a setback when it was discovered that there were no comprehensive files concerning many of the detainees. Thus, it was argued that merely assembling the available evidence about them would be a very long drawn process. In light of these issues among others, the U.S. administration has found it difficult to close down the Guantanamo Bay camp.