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Detention, Interrogation, and Trials

Closing Guantanamo

I. The Problem

Guantanamo has become an oft-cited symbol of injustice. Many of the United States’ allies--whose cooperation is crucial to our counterterrorism efforts--have harshly criticized America’s policies and called for the closure of the Guantanamo detention facility. Prominent members of both political parties have echoed these views. At the same time, detention policies at Guantanamo have produced neither substantial reliable intelligence, nor effective prosecution of terrorist suspects.

Appendix - Closing Guantanamo

To download the appendix for Chapter 2: Closing Guantanamo, click here.

End Illegal Detention, Torture & Rendition

I. The Problem

Guantanamo and the Rejection of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions

In early 2002, Americans heard for the first time about the hundreds of men being picked up on or near the battlefields of Afghanistan, and only much later, in late 2004, of many others who were rendered to or picked up by U.S. forces from places far from any battlefield - Bosnia, Zambia, and The Gambia - torn from their families, careers, and communities. All of these men were eventually transported to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a naval base operated exclusively by the U.S. since 1903, to a place called Camp X-ray.[i]

I. The Problem

On November 14, 2001, President Bush rebuked existing Article III tribunals and signed a military order establishing extra-judicial military commissions for detainees accused of terrorist acts. This attempt to circumvent existing Article III courts resulted in a string of yet unresolved court challenges and has undermined America’s ability to effectively prosecute terrorist suspects. Prosecutions for terrorism offenses can and should be tried in existing U.S. courts pursuant to Article III of the United States Constitution .[1]