WASHINGTON
Although the US “global war on terror” which began after the deadly 2001 terrorist attacks was to a large extent concluded following the American army’s withdrawal last year from Afghanistan, the dark side of this 20-year policy, its Guantanamo prison, remains open.
The prison was established 20 years ago today in Guantanamo Bay, which the US leased from Cuba for the navy in 1903.
The US took a step that will be recorded as a “black mark” in the history of international law after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Then-President George W. Bush established interrogation cells and prisons outside the jurisdiction of the judiciary so that those captured by US intelligence, mostly in the Middle East and Africa, for allegedly being involved with terrorism, under the name of “war on terror,” would not benefit from the judicial rights under US law.
Road to Guantanamo
While al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks in the US, the country invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001 on the grounds that it was used as a base by the terrorist group.
People arrested by the US Army as terrorist suspects in many countries, especially Afghanistan, were transferred to interrogation centers at American bases outside the US and secret prisons established by the CIA to be interrogated through torture.
The Bush administration announced on Jan. 11, 2002 that they had established a prison to hold terrorist suspects at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
However, although Guantanamo is known as the only prison where terrorist suspects are held, the existence of torture prisons in many countries, especially Thailand, remained secret until 2006.
Nearly 800 people tortured in Guantanamo
Within one year after its establishment, 680 suspects were brought to Guantanamo prison, where those arrested in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other regional countries were subjected to various forms of torture.
According to the US Defense Department, to date, 797 suspects have been held at Guantanamo.
Images of daily life in Guantanamo, called "the worst prison in the world,” have been shared with the public in only a very limited fashion.
The status of the suspects, dressed in orange jumpsuits and sometimes black hoods, has been at the center of the Guantanamo-related controversy.
The international community, especially human rights groups, points to how the Bush administration opened Guantanamo to comfortably carry out torture, which is considered a crime in the US, and to prevent the prisoners from benefiting from the protections of US law.
In addition, the Bush administration's definition of detainees here as “enemy combatants” paved the way for their trial in widely criticized military courts.
Obama failed to keep his word
Announcing in 2007 that he would run for president, Barack Obama made the closure of Guantanamo one of his key campaign planks.
During his two-term presidency, from 2009 to 2017, Obama constantly emphasized that he wanted to close Guantanamo.
In a decree he signed a few days after taking office Obama ordered the prison closed within one year, but was unable to fulfill this order.
In February 2016, the last year of his presidency, Obama finally announced a plan for the closure of Guantanamo before the cameras at the White House, saying that he planned to send some of the remaining detainees to their own countries or to third countries that accept them.
But at a press conference at the White House in the last months of his term, Obama admitted that he was unable to close Guantanamo, claiming that congressional opposition stood in his way.
When Obama took office, there were 245 detainees in Guantanamo, and during his term he completed the trial of 204, extradited some to their own countries, and put some under the control of a third country, leaving the prison with a small fraction of its Bush-era population.
‘Taliban 5’ released during Obama era
The most talked-about Guantanamo issue in recent years was the 2014 exchange of US Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban after leaving his unit in Afghanistan, for five high-ranking Taliban members.
The Taliban members, also known as the "Taliban Five,” took critical positions in the Taliban interim government established in Kabul after the US completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, 2021.
Only 1 person released during Trump era
Donald Trump promised that if he won the presidency in 2016, he would not close down Guantanamo but instead would, in his own words, “load it up with some bad dudes.”
On Feb. 18, 2018, about a year after he took office, Trump announced that he had signed a new presidential decree to keep the prison open.
While no new detainees were brought to the prison during the Trump era, after Trump's announcement, the Pentagon announced on May 2, 2018, that they had extradited a Saudi citizen named Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi to Riyadh and that Darbi would remain in a prison in Saudi Arabia until 2027.
Darbi became the only detainee released from Guantanamo during the Trump era.
Will Biden shut it down?
Current US President Joe Biden stressed both during his vice presidency under Obama and during the 2020 presidential race that Guantanamo should be closed.
Since taking office last year, Biden has so far only released one Guantanamo detainee.
The Pentagon announced on July 19, 2021, that they extradited the last Moroccan citizen, 56-year-old Abdul Latif Nasir, from Guantanamo to his home country.
With the first release under Biden, the number of detainees in Guantanamo fell to just 39, but there are still questions about Biden's ability to close down this notorious prison.
According to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, two of the remaining 39 detainees have been sentenced, while military court processes for 10 others continue.
While 13 other detainees are eligible for extradition, 14 are subject to periodic review.
After the completion of the military court process, the detainees are then evaluated as to whether they are suitable for extradition.
It turned out that 85% of those released or extradited under Obama were not related to terrorism in any way, but it still took years for 197 detainees to be released from Guantanamo.
While most believe it may take a long time for Biden to release the remaining 39 prisoners, the US closing the notorious prison is also considered very unlikely, especially under the pressure of Congress.
