Human rights groups state that "prisoners are frustrated with the military's failure to decide their future." Surprisingly, "nearly 100 of the detainees have been reportedly cleared for release but remain at the facility because of restrictions imposed by Congress and also concerns of possible mistreatment if they are sent back to their home countries."
During his first term, President Obama famously promised to close Guantanamo Bay. However, currently, they are considering to spend $195 million to renovate the base and erect a new prison building. Although it has been an issue for a while, Guantanamo Bay has been going through record numbers of protests and hunger strikes. Do you guys think such maintenance has been going on for too long? Are the hunger strikes and hospitalization too far? Is it really worth it?
5 comments:
Guantanamo Bay is a burden to America now. While it may be safer to imprison terrorists off of US soil, it is certainly much more expensive, especially if the inmates are performing hunger strikes and needing medical treatment. But part of the fault must go to Congress because there are inmates that are supposed to be free, yet are still in prison because of some restrictions. Furthermore, some of the men in Guantanamo Bay may be wrongly accused of their crime and are in prison for something they didn't do. By keeping these men imprisoned, they just get more and more restless. I say shut down Guantanamo and either ship the prisoners to the mainland or free them.
It is frightening to think that there could be wrongfully accused people imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, and something must certainly be done to "decide the futures" of everyone there, whether they are to be released or sentenced to remain imprisoned. It's also terrible if prisoners are being mistreated, or if anything sacred to them is being mistreated. Although it is very controversial, however, I feel like if such a prison is to continue to exist at all, it should stay where it is. I don't like the idea of the US decreasing accountability for what occurs there by keeping it off of our immediate shores, but I can't see anyone being happy about being told that their city would be the one to get the new "terrorist prison." It just seems like relocating would be too strenuous.
I feel like racial profiling is an unfair bias in Guantanamo Bay. Think, just recently two people were speaking Arabic on a plane and customers said they felt unsafe being on the plane with them. How is that fair at all? Just because of the recent Boston bombing, it doesn't mean we need to go and point at all Middle Eastern people and be like he's a terrorist. It's like you don't see people walk up to Koreans and be like, "You Koreans are crazy people. All you communists want to just bomb capitalists." I feel like that Guantanamo Bay emphasizes the fact that American's can racial profile in a way that is harmful. I'm guilty of it, and I'm sure many of my peers are too. However, we should still treat people with respect and Guantanamo seems way too cruel. Don't make fun of people's religious books, and I am pretty sure that we go by the rules "Innocent until proven guilty." This definitely does not show it.
I think that while it is wrong that some of the 166 men who are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay are being held past their release, with an undecided future, or because of congressional restrictions, the idea and location of Guantanamo Bay are good principles for the U.S. I think that for the sake of both the prisoners and the U.S, the U.S. needs to figure out a way to end or limit these hunger strikes by addressing exactly what they are striking against. However, this can be done with a structural improvement or modification, not an abolishment of the base. Again, while it is undeniably wrong that some of the men held there are wrongly held, I think Guantanamo Bay proves to be important to remain.
I agree with Rory that Guantanamo Bay is an important area. I also agree with Eavan that relocating is strenuous and not a good idea. Obviously these hunger strikes are for a specific reason, the government's main objective should be to find the reason for the hunger strikes. I also think that with the recent public shootings, the government has an even lower tolerance for suspicious behavior. I would be surprised if any major movement on Guantanamo Bay happened within the next few weeks, given the Boston bombings. I would be curious to understand why the prisoners are on hunger strikes. Of those participating in the strike, what do they have in common? Things to help identify the cause of the hunger strike would be origin, ethnicity, age, religion and reason for being in Guantanamo Bay.
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