In brief
Guantánamo Bay, once a bustling detainment center for alleged terrorists, now has just 15 inmates left after more than two decades of operation. The current political landscape, including Congressional restrictions, jeopardizes the potential closure of the facility.
The Pentagon’s detention operation at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has drastically dwindled since it began over 23 years ago, with just 15 prisoners remaining. Originally housing hundreds of men captured in the U.S. war on terror, the facility has seen multiple administrations struggle with the question of its existence. President George W. Bush opened Guantánamo and filled it with individuals deemed “the worst of the worst.” In contrast, Barack Obama aimed to close it without success, while Donald Trump suggested he would populate it with even more detainees but ultimately did not. Most recently, Joe Biden expressed a desire to fulfill Obama’s goal but currently lacks the means to do so, especially with Congress maintaining a ban on transferring prisoners to the U.S.The remaining 15 detainees, aged between 45 and 63, come from diverse nations including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen, along with a stateless Rohingya and a Palestinian. Notably, nearly all were taken from the C.I.A.'s covert network of overseas prisons established to hold individuals suspected of terrorism.Among the detainees are five accused participants in the September 11 attacks, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who has been charged with orchestrating the plot. A further individual stands trial for the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, a case that also remains unresolved. As the years progress, the continued operation of the facility appears uncertain, and it may linger until the last detainee ultimately passes away.
