Torture in Guantanamo Bay

     

    In the South-Western region of Cuba, the United States holds one of the largest Naval military bases, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The base has served as the epicenter of human rights abuses against those that have been held at the detention center. As noted by “Human Rights Watch” 780 foreign Muslims have been held there since the beginning of the detention center in 2002. This serves as one of the many “black sites” created by intelligence agencies like the CIA to secretly and illegally detain those deemed responsible for terrorism and engage in a series of different methods of torture. Most of them are held without trial and due process of law.

 ( "Detainees on arrival to Camp X-Ray, the holding facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba:"Amnesty.org") 

    The United States has established itself as a beacon for democracy and as a protector of Human and civil rights in the world, yet it has done little to nothing to respond to the reports of human rights violations in one of  its territories. This lack of response from these reports puts the U.S in an unfavorable position in regards to demanding answers from Russia or China for similar allegations done against them. 

    As pointed out by USA Today the Biden administration has unsatisfactorily attempted to close down the base and the detention camp, yet it begs the question of what we should do with these criminals. Some are even responsible for orchestrating the attack on 9/11. Do these "monsters'' deserve any protection from this type of treatment? Is their treatment justifiable for their past actions? Do they deserve the same rights as anyone else in American Territory? And what type of examples are we setting for other nations in the international arena? 

    Its time for the United States to immediately stop these atrocities from reoccurring. I want to use this opportunity to call out the United States government for its hypocrisy in establishing itself as a freedom fighter while doing inevitably nothing to stop the attacks on human rights in Guantanamo Bay. Some of the prisoners might have orchestrated the most horrifying crime in the name of terrorism, yet it doesn't give us any right to dehumanize and ignore their human essence in the name of justice. Instead, they should be prosecuted in a court of law and justice will be rightfully served.