'Guantánamo Bay Naval Base' at the southeastern end of
Cuba has been used by the
United States Navy for more than a century, and is the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base and the only one in a country with which the
United States does not have diplomatic relations.
[1] The United States controls the land on both sides of the southern part of
Guantánamo Bay (''Bahía de Guantánamo'' in
Spanish) under a
lease set up in the wake of the
1898 Spanish-American War. The lease was established in a 1903 agreement between the two governments, and its terms were modified in a 1934 treaty.
[2][3]
The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantánamo to be an illegal occupation of the area, and argues that the
Cuban-American Treaty, which established the lease in 1903, now violates article 52 of the
1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, though the issue is still open to argument.
[4][5] However, Article 4 of the same document states that
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties shall not be retroactively applied to any treaties made before itself.
[6]
Since 2002, the naval base has contained a
military prison, the
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, for persons alleged to be militant combatants captured in
Afghanistan and later in
Iraq.
Prior to
July 11,
2006, the Bush Administration maintained that these detainees are not protected under the
Geneva Convention.
[7]
History
Map of Cuba with location of Guantánamo Bay indicated.
:''See also
Timeline of Guantánamo Bay''
:''See also
List of commanders of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base''
The bay was originally named Guantánamo by the
Taíno.
Christopher Columbus landed at the location known as Fisherman's Point in 1494. The bay was briefly renamed Cumberland Bay when the British took it in the first part of the 18th century during the
War of Jenkins' Ear. In 1790, the British garrison at Cumberland died of fever as had a previous British force,
[8] before they could attack Santiago by land.
[9]
During the
Spanish-American War, the U.S. fleet attacking Santiago retreated to Guantánamo's excellent harbor to ride out the summer
hurricane season of 1898. The Marines
landed with naval support, but required Cuban scouts to push off Spanish resistance that increased as they moved inland. This area became the location of 'U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay', which covers about 45
square miles (116 km²) and is sometimes abbreviated as 'GTMO' or "'Gitmo'".
Satellite view of Guantánamo Bay
By the war's end, the U.S. government had obtained control of all of Cuba from Spain. A perpetual lease for the area around Guantánamo Bay was offered
February 23,
1903, from
Tomás Estrada Palma, an American citizen, who became the first President of Cuba. The
Cuban-American Treaty gave, among other things, the Republic of Cuba ultimate sovereignty over Guantánamo Bay while granting the United States "complete jurisdiction and control" of the area for coaling and naval stations.
A 1934 treaty reaffirming the lease granted Cuba and her trading partners free access through the bay, modified the lease payment from $2,000 in U.S. gold coins per year, to the 1934 equivalent value of $4,085 in U.S. dollars, and made the lease permanent unless both governments agreed to break it or the U.S. abandoned the base property. Since the Cuban Revolution the government under Fidel Castro has cashed only one of the rent checks from the US government, and only because of "confusion" in the heady early days of the leftist revolution. The remaining uncashed checks made out to "Treasurer General of the Republic" (A position that has ceased to exist after the revolution) are kept in Castro's office stuffed into a desk drawer.
[1]
In 1983, Cuban workers return home through the North East Gate.
Until the
1953-59 revolution, thousands of Cubans commuted daily from outside the base to jobs within. In mid-1958, vehicular traffic was stopped; workers were required to walk through the base's several gates. Public Works Center buses were pressed into service almost overnight to carry the tides of workers to and from the gate.
[10] In 2006, only two elderly Cubans still crossed the base's North East Gate daily to work on the base; the Cuban government prohibits new recruitment.
During the
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the families of military personnel were evacuated from the base. Notified of the evacuation on
October 22, evacuees were told to pack one suitcase per family member, to bring evacuation and immunization cards, to tie pets in the yard, to leave the keys to the house on the dining table, and to wait in front of the house for buses.
[11] Dependents traveled to the airfield for flights to the United States, or to ports for passage aboard evacuation ships.
Map of Guantánamo Bay showing approximate U.S. Naval Boundaries.
Since 1939, the base's water had been supplied by pipelines that drew water from the
Yateras River about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the base. The U.S. government paid a fee for this; in 1964, it was about $14,000 a month for about two and a half million U.S.
gallons (10 million
L) per day. In 1964, the Cuban government stopped the flow. The base had about 14 million gallons water in storage, and strict water conservation was put into effect immediately. The U.S. first imported water from
Jamaica via barges, then built
desalination plants.
[12] When the Cuban government accused the United States of stealing water, base commander
John D. Bulkeley ordered that the pipelines be cut and a section removed. A 38-inch (964 mm) length of the 14-inch (355 mm) diameter pipe and a 20-inch (508 mm) length of the 10-inch (254 mm) diameter pipe were lifted from the ground and the openings sealed. After this resolution, family members were allowed to return to the base in December 1964.
With over 9,500 U.S. sailors and marines,
[13] Guantanamo Bay is the only U.S. base in operation in a
Communist led country.
The long-term lease of this territory by the United States has been unpopular with Fidel Castro since he took power in 1959. The present landlords, the Communist Party of Cuba, claim that as land owners they may evict the people who live and work there, pointing to article 52
[14]
of the 1969
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force — in this case by the inclusion, in 1901, of the
Platt Amendment in the first
Cuban Constitution. The United States warned the
Cuban Constitutional Convention not to remove the Amendment, and stated U.S. troops would not leave Cuba until its terms had been adopted as a condition for the U.S. to grant independence. However, the United States argues that Article 4 of the
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties prohibits retroactive (after the fact) application of said Convention to already existing treaties
[6] such as the ones concluded between the US and Cuba in 1903 and 1934. The Platt Amendment was dissolved in 1934, and the treaty re-affirming the lease to the base was signed after Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched 29 US warships to Cuba and
Key West to protect U.S. interests following a military coup.
[16]
Two of the wind turbines installed by the Navy in 2005.
Since coming to power in
1959, Cuban leader
Fidel Castro has refused to cash all but the very first rent check in protest.
[ Castro: Cuba not cashing U.S. Guantanamo rent checks Anthony Boadle ] But the United States argues that its cashing signifies Havana's ratification of the lease — and that ratification by the new government renders moot any questions about violations of sovereignty and illegal military occupation.
The ''
San Francisco Chronicle'' published an article, on
April 22 2007, about the base, and the conditions under which the treaty would be rendered void.
Guantanamo echoes U.S. 'gunboat' past: Anti-American forces use Navy base as rallying symbol
The article states the treaty allows the USA to use the base for "coaling and naval purposes only." It states it does not allow the USA to use it for detaining "enemy combatants", or trying them for war crimes. It further states that the treaty explicitly proscribes "commercial, industrial or other enterprise within said areas." And yet the base sports half a dozen fast-food concessions. According to the article, American business, political and cultural figures with regular contact with Cuban leaders say they have the impression that the Cuban government wants the U.S. military off the island but that the issue isn't a priority now.
"Gitmo" has a U.S. amateur radio call sign series, KG4 followed by two letters. This is completely distinct from Cuban radio callsigns, which typically begin with CO or CM. For "ham" purposes it is considered to be a separate "entity." Not surprisingly, this position is not recognized by Cuba's amateur radio society.
Notable persons born at the naval base include actor Peter Bergman and American-British guitarist Isaac Guillory.
In 2005, the Navy completed a $12 million wind project, erecting four wind turbines capable of supplying about a quarter of the base's peak power needs, reducing diesel fuel usage and pollution from the existing diesel generators.[17]
Cactus Curtain
Minefield maintenance Marines stack mines for disposal, 1997.
After the Revolution, many Cubans sought refuge on the base. In fall 1961, Castro had his troops plant an 8-mile (13 km) barrier of cactus along the northeastern section of the fence. This was dubbed the "Cactus Curtain", an allusion to Europe's Iron Curtain
U.S. troops placed 75,000 land mines across the "no man's land" between the U.S. and Cuban border, creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. On May 16, 1996, U.S. president Bill Clinton ordered their removal. They have since been replaced with motion and sound sensors to detect intruders. The Cuban government has not removed the corresponding minefield on its side of the border.[18]
Detention of prisoners
Main articles: Guantanamo Bay detention camp
Captives upon arrival at Camp X-Ray, January 2002
In the last quarter of the 20th century, the base was used to house Cuban and Haitian refugees intercepted on the high seas. In the early 1990s, it held refugees who fled Haiti after military forces overthrew democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. These refugees were held in a detainment area called Camp Bulkeley until United States District Court Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. declared the camp unconstitutional on June 8, 1993. This decision was later vacated. The last Haitian migrants departed Guantánamo on 1 November 1995.
The Migrant Operations Center on Guantánamo typically keeps fewer than 30 people interdicted at sea in the Caribbean region.
Beginning in 2002, a small portion of the base was used to imprison several hundred individuals — some of whom were captured by US forces in Afghanistan, though the majority were 'bought' for a substantial bounty (generally in the region of $US 5000) from various warlords and mercenaries both in Afghanistan and elsewhere — at Camp Delta, Echo, Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray. The US military has asserted that some, but not all, of these captives are linked to Al-Qaida or the Taliban. The military has withheld the evidence against captives asserted to be linked to terrorist organizations or enemy states. In litigation regarding the availability of fundamental rights to those imprisoned at the base, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the captives "have been imprisoned in territory over which the United States exercises exclusive jurisdiction and control."[19] Therefore, the captives have the fundamental right to due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. A district court has since held that the "Geneva Conventions applied to the Taliban captives, but not to members of al Qaeda terrorist organization."[20]
On 10 June 2006, the Department of Defense reported that three Guantánamo Bay captives committed suicide. The military reported the men hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes. One of the men was first detained when he was a juvenile. They each had been imprisoned for the past four years, but never charged with a crime. Before June 10, the Department of Defense acknowledged there had been 41 suicide attempts at the camp. On 24 August 2006, the 24 year old Murat Kurnaz was released from the base. He claimed to have been exposed to water torture, sexual harassment and desecration of Islam while staying on Guantanamo. The documentary "Prisoner 345", interviews other former captives, Sami al-Hajj and Moazzam Beg, making similar claims of harassment.
Main articles: Guantanamo suicide attempts
The closing-down of the Guantánamo Prison has been requested by Amnesty International (May 2005), the United Nations (February 2006) and the European Union (May 2006).
On 6 September 2006, President Bush announced that enemy combatants held by the CIA will be transferred to the custody of DOD, and held at Guantánamo Prison. Among approximately 500 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, only 10 have been tried by the Guantanamo military commission, but all cases have been stayed pending the adjustments being made to comply with the Hamdan decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Businesses represented at Guantánamo Bay
In 1986, Guantanamo became host to Cuba's first and only McDonald's restaurant, as well as a Subway.[21] These fast food restaurants are on base, and not accessible to Cubans. It has been reported that prisoners showing good behavior have been rewarded not only with dates, pita bread and even Twinkies, but also 'Happy Meals', hamburgers or Filet-O-Fish sandwiches from the McDonald's located on the mainside of the base.[22]
In 2003, Guantanamo opened a combined KFC and A&W restaurants at the bowling alley and a Pizza Hut Express at the Wind Jammer Restaurant. It should be noted that all the restaurants on the installation are franchises owned and operated by the Department of the Navy, and all proceeds from these restaurants are used to support morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) activities for service personnel and their families.
Fictional representations and mentions of Guantanamo
One of the guard towers at Guantanamo Bay, 1991.
★ The movie ''A Few Good Men'' (1992) depicts a legal trial concerning an incident that took place at Guantánamo. It was filmed primarily in the United States.
★ Guantánamo was featured in the movie ''Bad Boys II'' (2003), although it was actually filmed in Puerto Rico.
★ Guantánamo was mentioned in the James Bond movie ''GoldenEye'' (1995).
★ Guantánamo is frequently referenced in the TV series ''JAG'', and its spin-off series ''NCIS'', usually as a threat to persuade suspects with even loose connections to terrorists to confess to crimes or inform on friends.
★ Guantánamo is referenced several times in the 2nd season of the TV series, ''24''.
★ A character in the Showtime series Sleeper Cell was a prior detainee at Guantanamo.
★ The helicopter simulation game Apache Havoc features a fictional Cuban-American war set around Guantánamo.
★ The flight simulator A-10 Cuba! bases the player in the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base.
★ The Matthew Reilly novel ''Seven Ancient Wonders'' features a prison break from Guantánamo Bay.
★ Guantánamo is the setting by the graphic novella ''An Accidental Death'' of Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower, about two teenagers living there in the 1970s.
★ ''The Road to Guantánamo'' (2006) is a docu-drama directed by Michael Winterbottom about the incarceration of three British detainees at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base.
★ "Guantanamo" is the name and subject of a currently unreleased State Radio song
★ Is mentioned in the 1996 track "Ready or Not" by the Fugees. The lyrics are "I refugee from Guantanamo Bay, dance around the border like I'm Cassius Clay"
★ The novel series Piers Anthony book, Bio of a Space Tyrant briefly mentions 'Tanamo Bay', a fictionalized version of Guantanamo Bay set in space on a moon of Jupiter.
★ Guantánamo Naval Base is where the protagonists forced antagonist Félix Cortez back to Castro's Cuba in Tom Clancy's novel "Clear and Present Danger".
★ James Grippando's 2004 novel ''Hear No Evil'' takes place partly at Guantánamo
★ Michael Moore's 2007 movie Sicko features a trip to Guantánamo for the sake of free medical care.
★ The CBS series Criminal Minds featured an episode in 2007 titled "Lessons Learned" where the BAU team interrogated a terrorist leader held in Guantánamo to determine the location of an attack in the USA
See also
★ Cuba-United States relations
★ Platt Amendment
★ The Road to Guantanamo - A movie about tortures in Guantanamo Bay
★ Close Guantanamo Flotilla
★ Compare with other foreign establishments:
: ''Historical:''
:
★ U.S.: Subic Bay, Panama Canal Zone
:
★ UK: Hong Kong, Chinese treaty ports, Irish treaty ports, Singapore
:
★ Portugal: Macau, Goa
: ''Current'':
:
★ UK: Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Cyprus)
References
1. U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay
2. Agreement Between the United States and Cuba for the Lease of Lands for Coaling and Naval stations
3. Treaty Between the United States of America and Cuba
4.
5. A Constructive Plot to Return Guantanamo Bay to Cuba in the Near Future COHA Research Staff
6. http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf pdf
7.
U.S. Shifts Policy on Geneva Conventions Bowing to Justices, Administration Says It Will Apply Treaties to Terror Suspects Washington Post Staff Writers
8. Guantanamo Bay Freeport
9. How We Got GUANTANAMO, Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr., U.S.M.C., , , American Heritage Magazine, 1962
10. The History of Guantanamo Bay 1494 -1964: Chapter 18, "Introduction of Part II, 1953 - 1964" M. E. Murphy, Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy
11. The History of Guantánamo Bay 1494 -1964: Chapter 19, "Cuban Crisis, 1962"
12. The History of Guantanamo Bay 1494 -1964: Chapter 21, "The 1964 Water Crisis"
13. 09360 No-Man's-Land, , Jeannie, Ralston, National Geographic, 2005
14. Article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of treaties
15. http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf pdf
16. Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History Jane Franklin 1997
17. United States Navy. The Department of Navy Debuts Largest Wind Energy Project To Date. April 25, 2005.
18. Destination Guantanamo Bay
19. ''Rasul v. Bush'', 542 U.S. 466 (2004).
20. ''In re Guantánamo captive Cases'', 355 F.Supp.2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005).
21. INSIDE GUANTANAMO
22. Guantanamo Bay's unhappy anniversary
External links
Official U.S. military website
★ NSGtmo.navy.mil — "U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Cuba: The United States' oldest overseas Naval Base"
★ Reprocessed Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) Documents
White House Statement
★ Read the Sept. 6 2006 statement about Military Commissions, covering Guantanamo Bay
Maps and photos
★ Cuba-Pictures.com — Guantánamo Province photos with the view from Mirador de Malones
★ Google Maps
★ Virtual 3D Walkthrough of Camp Delta (from the Art project Zone
★ Interdite)
Movie
★ Road to Guantanamo
Human rights affairs
★ Close Guantánamo Flotilla
★ Reporting on life behind the wire: The Sudanese journalist Sami al Hajj held in Guantanamo Bay, in The Independent, June 7, 2007
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