"I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A. I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts."
-- Jimmy Carter
-- Jimmy Carter
The phrase “ignorance is bliss” rings true when it comes to understanding the captivity of some of the world's most dangerous criminals, and those linked to even more dangerous people. Due mainly to the direct scrutiny of the detainees housed at Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, and therefore lack of public awareness, the human rights violations of the prisoners often go unconsidered. It is easy to ignore the injustice being brought upon these prisoners based on the accusations of their imprisonment when one is not exposed to the facts and the reality of such acts. Most people, companies, and organizations blindly assume GTMO is a justifiable and resourceful camp and necessary for housing said prisoners. However, not only is it unethical to inflict pain on somebody else for one’s own benefit of trying to attain information to prevent future crimes, but past studies have consistently proved that torturing prisoners is usually unreliable and misleading. Yet, hundreds of prisoners’ lives not just at GTMO, but also at other prisons are being wasted each year, not to mention how much money is being put into this prison in comparison to other prisons as well. The purpose of this website is to increase awareness of the cause to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp based on the treatment of the detainees and to hopefully offset the general public’s widespread indifference in order to spare hundreds of lives.
WHAT IS GTMO?
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also referred to as Guantánamo or GTMO, is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which fronts on Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, established in January 2002. In January 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said the prison camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous prisoners, to interrogate prisoners in an optimal setting, and to prosecute prisoners for war crimes. Detainees captured in the War on Terror, most of them from Afghanistan and much smaller numbers later from Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia were transported to the prison.
The facility is operated by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) of the United States government in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Detainment areas consisted of Camp Delta (including Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray (which is now closed). |
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