The United States military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has the site of controversy since it opened in 2002 to hold suspected terrorists. The base has accused of human rights abuses, including torture, and the treatment of prisoners there has a source of international condemnation.

In a recent report, a United Nations investigator who given unfettered access to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay found that prisoners continue to face “ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.” The investigator, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, said that the prisoners she interviewed had subjected to a range of abuses, including solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and physical and psychological coercion.

A US flag flies at half-staff at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, August 29, 2021

How the prisoners treated

Ní Aoláin’s report details the specific abuses that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have faced. These include:

• Solitary confinement: Many prisoners have held in solitary confinement for long periods of time, up to 15 years in some cases. Solitary confinement can have a devastating impact on mental health, and Ní Aoláin found that many prisoners she interviewed had experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.
• Sleep deprivation: Prisoners have been subjected to sleep deprivation, which can also have a serious impact on mental health. Some prisoners have kept awake for up to 11 days at a time. And others have woken up every 30 minutes throughout the night.
• Physical and psychological coercion: Prisoners have subjected to a range of physical and psychological coercion. Including stress positions, waterboarding, and sleep deprivation. These techniques have used to extract confessions, but they have also used to punish prisoners and to break their spirits.

Conclusion

The treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has been a source of international condemnation for many years. The United Nations investigator’s report provides further evidence of the abuses that prisoners have faced. It also calls for the closure of the detention center. The United States government has said that it committed to closing Guantanamo Bay. But it has not yet taken any concrete steps to do so.

The continued detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is a stain on the reputation of the United States. The treatment of these prisoners is cruel, inhuman, and degrading, and it violates international law. The United States government must take immediate steps to close Guantanamo Bay. And to ensure that the prisoners who have held there treated fairly and humanely.