Guantanamo Bay is a miserable U.S. Military prison camp that should be shut down. It is located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base that fronts in Caimanera, Cuba. Guantanamo Bay was founded in January, 2002. Since then, 779 men have been held here. The purpose of Guantanamo Bay is to “detain extraordinarily dangerous persons, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and prosecute detainees of war crimes.” said former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. Guantanamo Bay proves to be more than that however, with 9 recorded deaths. Guantanamo Bay is not what it seems and should be shut down.

Guantanamo Bay is cheating the system and breaking the law. The Bush administration was in power during the establishment of Guantanamo Bay. It said that Guantanamo Bay could be considered outside of U.S. legal jurisdiction. Therefore, detainees were not entitled to any protections of the Geneva Conventions, which specify that human dignity must be respected at all times. Additionally, prisoners of war must be treated humanely and must not be compelled to complete dangerous or unhealthy tasks.

Because none of these were said to apply, the U.S. now had a capacious loophole. Torture and degradation were now logical possibilities. The U.S. used G.B.’s location to break the law and go against all morals and what is ethically correct. That is just one reason why Guantanamo Bay needs to be shut down.

So why hasn’t G.B. been shut down already? First of all, there is the ridiculous fear that many Americans have. This is that when the prisoners are released they will cause mass destruction. There have been a number of attempts to shut down Guantanamo Bay; however none have been successful. The U.S. Congress is very hesitant to release G.B.’s prisoners because legally they must be released on U.S. soil. Congress fears the unlikely potential havoc that the prisoners might cause.

President Obama has made it a point that Guantanamo Bay would be shut down. For example, on January, 22, 2009 he issued a request to suspend proceedings at Guantanamo military commission for 120 days and to shut down the detention facility for 1 year. This appeal was eventually denied by Congress. Guantanamo Bay seems to be an insurmountable obstacle. Everyone should be in agreement over the suspension of G.B. Is it ok to torture people to preserve a fragile peace of mind? 

For example take ex-detainee Mr. Iqbal from Lahore, Pakistan. He was detained at Guantanamo Bay for more than 6 years! It began when he boasted to an Islamic State group about having the ability to make a shoe bomb. Unfortunately, there were two American officials who had heard this and so they arrested him. He was eventually moved to Guantanamo Bay. Following his imprisonment he was brutally tortured and completely stripped of all his human rights. Once he was released he had chronic injuries from 6 years of torture. G.B. must be closed down or horrendous tales like Mr. Iqbal’s will live on.

The U.S. must stop accessing all these loopholes and stop taking advantage of being such a wealthy country. If G.B. is closed, the U.S. might cease to be so prejudiced as well. G.B. allows the U.S. to make and follow through with false accusations. Currently there are 45 people being held without any evidence against them but are listed as “too dangerous for release.” Additionally there are 76 people still being held after the government has already cleared them. These innocent people are being tortured. Eliminate G.B. and eliminate unnecessary torture.

America is disregarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well. Article 5 states “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” However, over 200 FBI agents reported abusive treatment at G.B. The U.S. is deliberately breaking the agreement with the UDHR. Just because the U.S. is a wealthy country, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to obey the laws. The U.S. broke the laws with G.B. and it now the camp needs to be shut down. 

As stated above, the U.S. has committed many different violations using Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. Should immediately shut down Guantanamo Bay. It violates many human rights laws and is the location of unjust torture. The Congress needs to agree to vote to shut down the detention camp. Considering the number of offenses committed in Guantanamo Bay, there is no reason to keep it open. Guantanamo Bay must be shut down.