Los campos de detención de la base naval de Guantánamo: aspectos de Derecho internacional humanitario

Abstract

Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the President of the United States, George W. Bush ordered his Secretary of Defense to find an «appropriate location» for a detention camp outside US territory to serve as a detention centre for holding prisoners captured in the «war against terror». The camps assigned this purpose are on the American naval base in Guantánamo Bay, in Naval Base, southeast Cuba. According to the Treaties of 1898, 1902 and 1934, the «Joint Task Force-GTMO» is under the exclusive jurisdiction and control of the United States. The status of the detainees gives rise to a number of controversies in the determination of the applicable law, and alleged breaches of international humanitarian law have been brought before the US Courts. Today, the detention centre remains open and more than a hundred prisoners remain detained and without any immediate hope of release.