Map of Cuba: Guantanamo Bay
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Guantanamo Bay Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about Guantanamo
Bay.
Where is Guantanamo Bay? Guantanamo Bay
is located is located on 45 square miles
(120 km2) of land and water at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba
When did the US acquire Guantanamo Bay? The
US acquired a lease to the southern portion
of Guantanamo Bay in the 1903 Cuban-American
Treaty On January 11, 2002 the first
of 779 detainees were brought to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp
under the Bush administration.
Guantanamo Bay
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on
Guantanamo Bay
for kids.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts for kids
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 1: Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was first used
as a camp for US troops during the 1898
Spanish-American War.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
2: The
Spanish-American War ended in victory for the United
States and Cuba obtained independence from Spain. The
1903 Cuban-American Treaty leased to United States the
southern portion of Guantanamo Bay, where a U.S. Naval
Station had been established in 1898 during
Spanish-American War.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 3: The deal with Cuba was to
lease 45 square miles (72 square km) of land in Guantanamo Bay. The
lease can only be terminated by mutual agreement.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 4: The 1934 Treaty of Relations,
part of the "Good Neighbor
Policy" removed Cuba from the direct sphere of American influence with one
exception - the continued control of Guantanamo Bay by the U.S.
Military.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 5: In 1961 the US-Cuba
relationship broke up following the
Bay of Pigs Invasion,
closely followed by the
1962 Cuban
Missile Crisis but the US naval station in Guantanamo Bay
remained in tact.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 6: In November, 1991,
the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base started being used as a
migrant detention center to detain Cubans who were
attempting to reach the United States.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 7: The administration
of President George H.W. Bush maintained that detainees
held at Guantanamo Bay were not entitled to any U.S.
rights because they are being held in Cuban territory.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 8: In 1994 it was used to detain large
numbers of Haitians fleeing the military dictatorship in
Haiti.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
9: The
9/11 terrorist attacks
shocked the world and began the
War on Terror. The American War
in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001 when the United States invaded
Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
10: On November 13,
2001 President George W. Bush signed a Military order
authorizing the creation of military tribunals for the
detention, treatment and trial of certain non-citizens
in the war against terrorism.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
11: The order stated
that military tribunals would have exclusive
jurisdiction, in respect of offenses by foreign
terrorism suspects, in proceedings that lack the due
process protections of US federal courts.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
12:
Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups
such as the
Taliban, do not
adhere to the rules of war, they do not represent any state or
government, nor or they party to international treaties or
conventions.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
13: The existing
migrant detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay were
hurriedly changed and on January 8, 2002 Cuba was
officially informed that the U.S. was establishing
the base as the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (aka Gitmo).
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 14: The purpose of the
detention camp (Gitmo) was to house Muslim militants and
suspected Al-Qaeda and
Taliban terrorists captured by U.S. forces in the War on Terror.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 15: On January 11, 2002 the first
20 suspects were brought from Afghanistan to Camp X-Ray in the
Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Camp X-Ray was an outside, temporary
prison consisting of roughly 8-foot-square cages made of concrete
and wire.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 16: President George W. Bush
maintained that it was neither obliged to grant basic constitutional
protections to the detainees, since the base was outside U.S.
territory, nor required to observe the Geneva Conventions regarding
the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians during wartime, as
the Geneva Conventions did not apply to “unlawful enemy combatants.”
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 17: On April, 29,
2002, Camp X-Ray was closed and all prisoners were
transferred to Camp Delta. Camp Delta, consisting of
camps 1-4 was originally constructed from shipping
containers to which heavy mesh covered windows were
added.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 18: (opened November 2006)with central video
monitoring of each cell and electronically controlled
gates,
camps 1-4 . A small number of higher-level detainees
were placed in an an intelligence operations center in
the hills called Camp 7.
Continued...
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts for kids
Facts
about Guantanamo Bay for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about Guantanamo Bay for kids.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts for kids
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts - 19: October 11, 2002 Guantanamo officials
request that additional techniques beyond those in the
U.S. Army Field Manual be approved for use.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
20: On December 2,
2002 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld prescribed a
new interrogation policy for Guantanamo Bay detainees
authorizing prolonged isolation, sensory deprivation,
hooding, removal of clothing, 20-hour interrogations,
the use of stress positions, exploiting phobias to
induce stress (such as fear of dogs) and forced grooming
(such as forcing Muslim men to shave their beards
against religious practices).
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
21: FBI Officials
complained to the Defense Department of abuses and Judge
Advocates repeatedly object to aggressive interrogation
techniques at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, but these
were ignored by the Pentagon
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
22: By May 2003 the number of detainees
in Guantanamo Bay prison numbered 680.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
23: In 2006 the U.S.
Supreme Court declared that the system of military
commissions that was to be used to try selected
prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp was in
violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (the
foundation of military law in the United States) and the
Geneva Conventions (basic rules of international
humanitarian law).
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
24: The legality of the military
commissions was restored in 2006 by the Military
Commission Act "to authorize trial by military
commission for violations of the law of war, and for
other purposes.".
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
25: In June 2008 the
US Supreme Court ruled that detainees should have the
right to habeas corpus to challenge their detention in
US Federal Courts.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
26: During the
presidential election Barack Obama had called for
Guantanamo Bay detention camp to close. When
President Barack Obama assumed office on January 20,
2009, Guantanamo held 242 detainees out of the total 779
detained during the Bush administration.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
27: On his second day in office,
President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order
establishing the Guantanamo Review Task Force, and
pledging to close the prison.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
28: Guantanamo Bay
detention camp was repeatedly condemned by international
human rights and humanitarian organizations including
the Red Cross, Amnesty International and the Human
Rights Watch for alleged human rights violations,
including the use of various forms of torture during
interrogations.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
29: The closure of the detention camp was
subsequently delayed by opponents in Congress, who
argued that housing the detainees in prisons on U.S.
soil would imperil national security.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
30: On October 28,
2009 Congress passed the third iteration of military
commissions with the Military Commissions Act of 2009.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
31: On March 7, 2011
President Barack Obama signed and executive order
creating Periodic Review Boards to assess detainee
status, recommending whether individuals held in the
Guantanamo Bay detention camps are safe to release or
transfer, or whether they should continue to be held
without charge.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
32: In February 2013 Guantanamo Bay 106
of a total of 166 detainees launched a hunger strike to
protest lack of due process.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
33: On May 23, 2013 President Obama
pledged to increase efforts to close Guantanamo Bay
detention camp.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
34: On December 9,
2014 a US Senate report details torture techniques used
on detainees by the CIA. It detailed that Khalid Shaikh
Mohammad, a detainee in Camp 7, was water-boarded 183
times and outlined similar torture abuses inflicted on
other Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
35: During his State
of the Union address on 20 January 2015 President Obama
stated Guantanamo Bay "is not who we are" and that it
was "time to close Gitmo".
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts -
36: Only one thing is
certain. The terrorist threat will persist no matter
what happens with Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Guantanamo
Bay
Facts for kids
Guantanamo Bay - President George W Bush Video
The article on
Guantanamo Bay provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
George W Bush video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 43rd American President whose presidency spanned from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009.
Guantanamo Bay for kids
●
Interesting Facts about Guantanamo Bay for kids and schools
●
Summary of Guantanamo Bay detention camp
●
Guantanamo Bay of important, key
events
●
George W Bush from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009
●
Fast, fun facts about Guantanamo Bay detention camp
●
Foreign & Domestic
policies of President George W Bush
● George W Bush Presidency and
Guantanamo Bay for schools,
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