Arguments Against Guantanamo Bay

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One of the most debated current events that have a hold on America and the world are the prisons of Guantanamo Bay. Since the opening of the prisons, there have been reported stories of torture on prisoners, inmates being force fed, and due process rights being taken away. In this essay, we will examine Guantanamo Bay from the beginnings, to the legal issues by reviewing landmark Supreme Court cases, to the world wide opinions, and finally the future of GITMO. After much research, we will review how I came to my belief, that the holding of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay is unconstitutional and that the torture must be stopped immediately. Guantanamo Bay, otherwise known as (GITMO), is a United States Naval Station and prison located in Cuba.…show more content…
During the US invasion in 2001, he was captured by American militants and sent to Guantanamo Bay. Hamden was charged for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. Hamden was to be tried by a military commission ordered by the Bush Administration. Hamden’s lawyer challenged the case explaining that under the previous Supreme Court case of Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld(2004), Hamden does have a right for a writ of habeas corpus. Hamden’s lawyers also argued that it was unconstitutional to be tried by a military commission, under the protection of the Geneva Conventions. The Supreme Court ruled in 2006 the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay were in fact protected under Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, stating the Executive branch does not have any jurisdiction when it relates to prisoners and their rights to petition the Government for trials. The Bush Administration again explained Guantanamo Bay, because it is located in Cuba, GITMO “prevents judicial review of the legal status of prisoners; it is the "legal equivalent of outer space," unlike military bases on US territories.” The Bush Administration explained the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, the U.S Army Military Police has the right to treat prisoners however so because they are located on Cuban…show more content…
Bush of 2008 was a case just as important as Hamden vs Rumsfeld, and Hamdi vs Rumsfeld. In 2002, Lakhdar Boumediene was arrested in connection to a plot to attack the US Embassy in Bosnia. Again like Hamdi, Boumediene was classified as an enemy combatant against the US and was sentenced to the Guantanamo Bay prison. Informed on his right to a file for a writ of habeas corpus by his lawyers, Boumediene petition the court for one. Boumediene was denied a writ of habeas corpus by the district court based on the government’s proactive approach, which believed no Guantanamo Bay prison has rights protected by the Geneva Convention. Boumediene being a citizen of Boznia and not United States of America, there was some question if that ruling would hold up when the appeal was sent to the Supreme Court. Based on a precedent in the case of Rasul v. Bush, where the Supreme Court ruled that even none American citizens have a right to writ of habeas corpus, the decision was reversed and ruled that Boumediene does have the right to petition the court. The Supreme Court also used legal reasoning to determine this case. The questions read as follows, should the Military Commissions Act of 2006 be interpreted to strip federal courts of jurisdiction over habeas petitions filed by foreign citizens detained at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? If so, is the Military Commissions Act of 2006 a violation of the Suspension Clause of the Constitution? Are the detainees at

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