United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will sign an executive order by instructing the Pentagon and the Department of Internal Security to redirect prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to house 30,000 immigrants who could not be repatriated to their countries of origin.
He stated that the installation would be used to “”.
“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust countries to keep them because we don’t want them to come back, so let’s send them to Guantanamo,” Trump added.
The US detention installation known as Guantanamo Bay, on the coast of Cuba, was created in 2002 by then -US president George W. Bush to detain suspects after September 11, 2001 attacks.
Although the base is better known for its detention field where the United States maintains suspects of terrorism, it also houses an immigrant processing center.
The US base is said to be an “illegal occupation” of its territory and should be returned to the island nation.
Why do the US command Guantanamo Bay in Cuba?
The base, sometimes called “gitmo”, is located in the southeast of Cuba, on the coast of Guantanamo Bay.
The United States have been running the 72 square kilometers where the base has been located since 1903. The site shares a 27 -kilometer border with Cuba.
Cuba leased the territory to the US to build a naval station. In 1934, the countries signed a perpetual agreement that rents 72 square kilometers from Cuba to the United States for $ 4,085 per year. In this way, the US would only leave the region by mutual agreement.
In response to the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent military operations in Afghanistan, the detention facilities of existing immigrants in Guantanamo were reused to maintain
During the administration of President George W. Bush (2001-2009), the United States claimed that the detainees of Guantanamo Bay were not on American soil and were therefore not covered by the US Constitution, and that “combatant status enemy ”meant that they could have some legal protections denied.
There are 15 detainees in Guantanamo Bay under suspicions or terrorism -related crimes, including September 11 mentor Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
More than 700 people have been held in Guantanamo since its opening. The population peak was
According to the Human Rights First organization, 500 detainees were transferred or released during the Bush administration and 197 prisoners were transferred or released during Obama administration. At least nine detainees died in custody.
Timeline
1903 – The new Cuba Republic leases 72 square kilometers of land in Guantanamo Bay for the United States to build a naval station. The work begins in the same year.
1934 – Cuba and the United States sign a perpetual lease agreement that rents 72 square kilometers from Cuba to the United States for $ 4,085 per year.
1991 – Approximately 34,000 Haitian refugees are detained at the base after running away from a blow to Haiti.
1994-1995 – More than 55,000 Cubans and Haitians captured at sea are kept in Guantanamo.
January 11, 2002 – The first detainees of Afghanistan and Pakistan reach the temporary facilities of the X-Ray field.
April 19, 2006 – Following a Freedom of Information Act process by Associated Press, the Pentagon discloses the most detailed and extensive list of detainees already provided. It indicates the names and nationalities of 558 detainees that have undergone an audience in Guantanamo Bay.
May 15, 2006 – The Defense Department releases another list of current and old detainees for AP. This list of 759 names includes everyone who has been kept gitm since 2001. The list has not included the names of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or Ramzi bin al-Shibh.
June 10, 2006 – Three detainees, Ali Abdullah Ahmed, Mani al-Habardi Al-Utaybi and Yassar Talal Al-Zrani, are found dead in their cells by the guards after apparently committed suicide.
September 6, 2006 – President Bush acknowledges that the CIA has maintained suspects of terrorism in secret arrests abroad. It announces the transfer of 14 agents from Al Qaeda captured, including Mohammed, Bin Al-Shibh and Abu Zubaydah, for Gitmo.
March 15, 2007 – During a military hearing, a transcription of Mohammed’s confession of being the mentor of September 11 attacks is released.
January 20, 2009 – On the day of his inauguration, US President Barack Obama orders US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to ask prosecutors to request 120 -day sentence suspensions so that cases of terrorism in Guantanamo can be reviewed.
January 22, 2009 – Obama signs an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within a year.
November 13, 2009 – US Attorney General Eric Holder announces that five detainees, accused of complicity in the September 11 attacks, will be transferred to New York to be tried in a civil court
November 18, 2009 – Obama announces that the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center will not be closed until January 22, 2010, due to difficulties in the relocation of prisoners.
December 15, 2009 – The Obama government announces that between 70 and 100 detainees will be transferred to an empty arrest in Thomson, Illinois.
March 7, 2011 – Obama announces that the United States will resume the use of military committees to process detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
April 24, 2011 – Nearly 800 US confidential military documents obtained by WikiLeaks reveal details about alleged terrorist activities of al Qaeda agents captured and housed at the detention center.
May 18, 2011 – A detainee identified as Inayatullah commits suicide in his cell.
September 8, 2012 – A detainee is found dead in his cell.
April 13, 2013 – Detainees carrying “makeshift weapons” shock with guards. Guards respond firing “four less than lethal shots,” according to the Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
May 16, 2013 – Army Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House announces that 102 of the 166 detainees are on hunger strike, with 30 being fed by tubes. Three were hospitalized.
May 23, 2013 – In a speech at the University of National Defense, Obama asks Congress to close the Detention Center, saying: “Given the incessant search for my administration for the leadership of al Qaeda, there is no justification beyond the policy for Congress to prevent us from closing a installation that should never have been opened ”.
September 2013 – The Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases a report, saying that some former detainees are returning to terrorist activity after being released. The study says that of the 603 detainees that were released, 100 of them resumed the fight against the United States.
April 15, 2016 – The Defense Department announces the transfer of 15 detainees to the United Arab Emirates. It is the biggest transfer since Obama has taken office.
January 30, 2018 – US President Donald Trump signs an executive order to keep the detention center open and opens the doors to send new prisoners.
February 12, 2021 – White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki indicates during a press conference that the Joe Biden government intends to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which houses approximately 40 prisoners until the end of its term.
September 7, 2021 – The Taliban announces the formation of an interim-line government for Afghanistan. Four men who receive high positions in the government are former Guantanamo decents, who were released as part of the 2014 prisoners’ exchange by former US Army soldier Bergdahl.
With information from CNN International.
