Guantanamo Bay Essay

The United States of America prides itself as being one of the most powerful democracies around the world and The U. S. ’s continued use of Guantanamo Bay, a corrupt institution, as an interrogation facility provides a great example of their ignorance toward basic human rights, their unwillingness to release possibly innocent immigrants back to their countries and lastly disregarding the option of altering interrogation methods or the closing of such an institution. The U. S. being one of the world’s superpowers also infringes upon human rights by funding and supporting Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay demonstrates the U. S. ’s willingness to gain military intelligence at the cost of possible innocent people’s sanity and at times their lives. Residents at Guantanamo Bay are often held without being told about what they are being held for, their right to habeas corpus is withdrawn from them. Also, on average only one in every one hundred and seventy two detainees at Guantanamo Bay has been given a trial. In addition, the Pentagon has been reluctant to allow aid agencies like the Red Cross to visit the detainees and inspect their living conditions. The torture at Guantanamo Bay is so severe that it caused three residents (Mani al-Utaybi, age 30; Yasser al-Zahrani, age 20; and Ali Abdullah Ahmed, age 37) to commit suicide . However, there is controversy as to whether these three men killed themselves or were strangled by Guantanamo Bay guards or interrogators and strung up to make their death appear like a suicide. During year 2002 Canada became directly involved with Guantanamo Bay. A fifteen year old kid who was alleged to have thrown a grenade killing an American soldier was brought to Guantanamo Bay and was detained there until last year. Omar Khadr was held at Guantanamo Bay and during 2008 he applied to the federal court for judicial review of the governments decision to not seek his repatriation. He claimed that his s. 7 and rights were infringed. â€Å"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. † The court found Khadr’s s. 7 rights breached as a result of the â€Å"frequent flyer program†. Khadr was not given any immediate counsel at the time of his arrest, breaching s. 0(b) of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. â€Å"Everyone has the right on arrest or detention to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right. † Like many other detainees at Guantanamo Bay Khadr’s right to habeas corpus was infringed, which is s. 10(c) of the charter. â€Å"Everyone has the right on arrest or detention to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful. † Lastly, Khadr was brought to Guantanamo Bay during year 2002 and was not tried for murder until year 2007, which breaches his s. 1(b) rights. â€Å"Any persons charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time. † The most terrible thing about both Guantanamo Bay’s disregard for human rights and treatment of foreigners is the strong aversion The United States has towards the reconstruction and the development of new methods of operation for Guantanamo Bay. Gathering military intelligence is a high priority but that priority should never be at the cost of a possible innocent person’s well being. Therefore, the idea of closing an institution like Guantanamo Bay should not seem extrinsic. However, interrogation facilities are needed in order for the U. S. to stay vigilant with anti-terrorism, but there should be a need to modify Guantanamo Bay’s practices so that detainees can keep their rights. Torin Nelson, a former Guantanamo Bay employee interviewed in the documentary â€Å"Gitmo – a documentary on Guantanamo Bay† spoke regarding Guantanamo Bay’s current interrogation tactics. â€Å"In my humble opinion they’re completely ineffective and detrimental to the overall mission†¦ I guarantee you I could get one person to give more information (compared to trying to get information from ten detainees using current methods) if I was to convince that one person that we’re the good guys and we’re their friends. † In summation, Guantanamo Bay is a corrupt institution because it ignores fundamental human rights by cruelly treating residents, it withholds possible innocent detainees like Omar Khadr and The U. S. is not showing any sign of changing Guantanamo Bay’s methods even though it might prove a more efficient way of gathering military intelligence.