DeWitt1

KatieDeWitt
Mr.Campopiano
Government1
02November2015
ClosingGuantanamoBayDetentionCamp
Sinceitsopeningin2002,GuantanamoBayDetentionCamp(commonlyreferredtoas
GTMO)hasservedasapoorrepresentationofnotonlytheAmericanprisonsystem,butof
Americaitself.Theprisonwasconstructedtohouseforeigncriminalscapturedoverseasfrom
MiddleEasterncountries,themajorityofwhichcapturedfromAfghanistan.Locatedatthe
UnitedStatesmilitarybaseatGuantanamoBay,Cuba,itisoperatedbytheJointTaskForce
GuantanamobytheUnitedStatesgovernment,meaningthatAmericasnameiswrittenallover
it.Whatlookslikeanaveragemaximumsecurityprisonontheoutsidecannotcomparetothe
horrorsoccurringeverydayontheinside.TheUnitedStatesgovernmentshouldcloseGTMO
andopenanewmaximumsecurityprisonintheUnitedStatesbecauseGTMOisextremely
expensivetooperate,treatmentofthedetaineesthereisinhumane,anddetaineesdontreceive
properlegalrights.
WhileGTMOitselfmaylookpoorlyfundedduetoitsfadedpaintanddecayingbuilding,
itscostisexactlytheopposite.Americacontinuesto
spendasmuchas$2.5to$2.7million
annuallyperdetaineeatGuantanamo(Leahy)
,foratotalcostof450milliondollarstooperate
theprisoninitsentirety.Thisnumberisastonishinglyhighwhencomparedtotheoperationcost
ofatypicalprisonwithintheUnitedStates,evenmaximumsecurityprisons.Suchprisons,some
knownassupermaxprisons,aresuchthatcontainunitswithinthefacilitythatprovidehousing

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fortheworstoftheworstcriminals,meaningthattheyposeasathreattoeithernationalor
internationalsecurity.Theseprisonsoperationcostsgenerallyfallwithinrangeoftwentyand
30milliondollars(Riveland),notevenonetenthofthepriceofGTMO.IfGTMOweretobe
deconstructed,salvageablematerialscouldberecycledandusedtobuildthenewprisoninthe
UnitedStates,furtherloweringitscost.
ThepeaceandquietofthelandscapesurroundingGTMO,composedofmostlyrocky
shorelineandlushgreenery,cannotcomparetothechaosandmalpracticeoccurringonthe
inside.Infact,theconditionsofGTMOareanythingbutlush.TheinterrogationsatGTMOare
notlikewhatmoviesmakethemouttobe.Insteadofbeingofferedcoffeeorwaterandsimply
answeringquestions,detaineesarebroughttotheinterrogationroom,adecayingwoodenshed,
andoftenbeaten,sexuallyharassed,orinterrogatedinextremetemperaturesuntiltheyreach
theirbreakingpoint(GuantanamoPart01of01).Notonlydodetaineesundergophysical
torture,buttheyfacereligioustortureaswell.Onedetaineereportedthat,uponarrival,hewas
forcedtoshavehisbeard,aphysicalfeatureconsideredtobearepresentationofhonorinthe
Muslimculture.AnotherdetaineeclaimedthataguardtookhisQuranfromhimandtoreitto
pieces(TortureTechniques).Perhapstheworstreportedcasesoftorturearethoseregarding
therecenthungerstrikeattheprison.Detaineesrefusingtoeat,duetopersonalorreligious
reasons,arebrutallyforcefedthroughatubeinsertedthroughoneoftheirnostrils.Thiscauses
severebleedingthroughthenoseandlightheadedness,accordingtothetestimoniesofmultiple
detaineesonstrike.DetaineesheldataprisonintheUnitedStateswouldfacenosuchtreatment
astheydoatGTMO.

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Tomostpeople,thecriminaljusticesystemisasimpleconcept.Usually,asuspected
criminalischargedwithacrime,sanctionedinadetentionfacility,andthentriedwhile
incarceratedtodeterminehisorherfate.However,themajorityofdetaineesheldatGTMO
neverseethefirstandlaststagesofthatprocess.Ofthe149mencurrentlyheldatGTMO,over
halfofthemhavealreadybeenclearedforrelease(FactsAboutGuantanamoBay).48men
haventseentheinsideofacourtroomtobeproperlytriedduetoalackofevidence.Without
sufficientevidence,onemightquestionwhyamanwasevenincarceratedinthefirstplace.At
GTMO,manydetaineesarebeingheldindefinitely,withouttrial,transfer,orrelease.
MohamedouSlahi,allegedlyaffiliatedwithalQaedauponcapture,hasbeenheldatGTMOfor
thirteenyearswithouteverbeingchargedforthesuspectedcrime(Slahi).Since
Rasulv.Bush
in2004,detaineeshavehadtherightofhabeascorpustotrytheirdetention.However,the
majorityofgrantedcasesarelaterappealed,includingSlahis.IntheUnitedStates,everybody
hastherighttoatrialbyjuryundertheSixthAmendmentoftheUnitedStatesConstitution.Ifa
newprisonwasconstructedintheUnitedStates,detaineesredirectedfromGTMOwouldreceive
therightstheyreentitledto.
WhiletherearemanybenefitsthatwouldcomefromGTMOsclosure,manyAmericans
arentinfavorofhavingsuchdangerouscriminalsonourlandaswellasspendinggovernment
moneytohousethesecriminals.Accordingtorecentpolls,
70percentofAmericanssaythey
approveofPresidentObamasdecisiontokeepopentheGuantanamoBayprison

(Rosenthal)
.
However,theydonotrealizejusthowbadtheconditionsoftheprisonare,aswellashowthe
detaineesaretreated.SupportersofGTMOarguethattheydontwantthesedangerouscriminals
onAmericansoil.Eventhoughdetaineeswouldbesecurelyimprisoned,proponentsarent

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comfortablewiththeideaofhavingthemintheirbackyard,orworse,possiblyescaping.
Thankfully,inasupermaxprison,escapeeswouldntbeaproblem.Thisisduetotheirextremely
highlevelofsecurityandefficiency.SupportersofGTMOalsoarguethatopeninganewprison
tohousedetaineesintheUnitedStateswouldjustbetoocostly.Itistruethatsupermaxes
typicallycosttwoorthreetimesmoretobuildandoperatethantraditionalmaximumsecurity
prisons(Mears).Moneywouldnotbeinissue,however,becauseGTMOisoverfundedasitis.
AprisonbuiltintheUnitedStateswouldcostsignificantlylesscomparedtothecostofGTMO.
AsupermaxprisonwouldbeabletosafelyhousedetaineeswithoutcostingtheUnitedStates
governmentanoutrageousamountofmoney.
IfGTMOcontinuestostayinoperation,itwillonlyplungedeeperintothedownward
spiralitsalreadyin.ThiswouldcausetheprisonsnotoriousreputationofAmericatobecome
evenmoreinfamous.Torturedandtrialless,detaineesatGTMOarelivinginrealitysversionof
purgatory.Theprisonisexpensivetooperate,thedetaineesareextremelymistreated,andthey
arenotreceivingproperlegalrights.AnewsupermaxprisonshouldbebuiltintheUnitedStates
tohousedetaineesredirectedfromGTMO,whichshouldbedeconstructedinitsentirety.
EradicatingeverytraceofGTMOwouldeliminateitspoorsymbolizationofAmericaaswell.

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WorksCited
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n.d.Web.23Sept.2015.
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Leahy,Patrick."SenateJudiciarySubcommitteeHoldsHearingOnClosingGuantanamoBay|
U.S.SenatorPatrickLeahyofVermont."
PatrickLeahy:U.S.SenatorPatrickLeahyof
Vermont
.N.p.,24July2013.Web.22Oct.2015.
Mears,DanielP."EvaluatingtheEffectivenessofSupermaxPrisons."
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ReferenceService
.U.S.DepartmentofJustice,Jan.2006.Web.17Oct.2015.
Riveland,Chase."SupermaxPrisons:OverviewandGeneralConsiderations."
NationalInstitute
ofCorrections
.U.S.DepartmentofJustice,Jan.1999.Web.17Oct.2015.
Rosenthal,Andrew."HurrayforGuantanamoBay."
TheNewYorkTimes
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Company,09Feb.2012.Web.21Oct.2015.
Slahi,MohamedouOuld.
GuantnamoDiary.Ed.LarrySiems.NewYorkCity:Little,Brown,
2015.Print.
"TortureTechniquesUsedinGuantanamo."
TheJusticeCampaign
.N.p.,n.d.Web.15Sept.
2015.