When Obama was sworn into office in 2008, he made a statement saying that he was going to shut down Guantánamo Bay (Gitmo) within his first year in office. He not only said that it undermines national security, but requires millions of dollars to run. Now, seven years later and at the end of his second term, Gitmo is still up and running. With reports of the CIA torturing prisoners and protests to shut it down, many people are now left wondering as to why.

Guantánamo Bay is a naval base located in southeastern Cuba. In January 2002, a detention camp was opened on the base. Inmates at Gitmo are not typical criminals. Today, its occupants consist of Muslim militants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan even Britain and Australia that have links to terrorist groups along with suspected terrorist leaders. Nearly 800 prisoners have passed through the camp since its opened.

Due to its location, the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay do not have the same legal rights and process as U.S. prisoners. Detainees can be held at the prison for as long as our government wants to without being convicted of a crime. The government thinks this is necessary, as these people are labeled as extremely dangerous and have sensitive information about terror groups and potential attacks. This alone was enough reason for people to call for its eradication.

Gitmo has been in spotlight recently for performing enhanced interrogation techniques,  commonly known as torture. President Obama spoke out about the it and a report more than 4,000 pages long was written. The interrogation methods have been labeled as brutal even among politician. Some of the methods used were withholding food and water, sleep deprivation by blasting music and shining lights in eyes, icing of mouth, nose and genitals, rectal rehydration, beatings and most famously waterboarding. In many of these cases, inexperienced interrogators were placed in senior positions. Also, some reports even say that detainees remember their interrogators smelling of alcohol.

According to a poll from CBS, 49% of Americans believe that enhanced tactics are justified and 57% of Americans believe that it often leads to the government gaining reliable information. It’s proven that torture isn’t as effective as it seems. Although movies and TV shows convey that torture works, investigations prove otherwise. Government officials cite three particular cases that they claim were successful and crucial to the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden. Some of the most important and/or most famous instances are in the cases of Majid Khan, Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Majid Khan is what many say is the poster child for Gitmo torture. Khan was hung by his ankles multiple times and ice water was poured into his nose, mouth and genitals. He was also subjected to having a pureed hummus, nuts, raisins, and pasta infused into his rectum. In another circumstance, he was shackled in a speeding car and unable to stop it. Khan did not give any reliable information to interrogators and is awaiting a trial. Abu Zubaydah was brutally waterboarded to the point of coughing, vomiting and involuntary body spasms. In some cases, Zubaydah was placed in a coffin and waterboarded. Zubaydah, who a trusted friend of Osama Bin Laden, gave interrogators gave up information stopping two different plots, but did this  prior to being waterboarded. He later only gave false leads due to his lack of knowledge of the Al-Qaeda networks. He later was declared mentally insane. In the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks, was waterboarded similarly to Zubaydah. He also gave false information, leading militants into Montana with a lead that a group of African American Muslims was working with Al-Qaeda and planning attacks.

Obama addressed shutting down Gitmo in this year’s State of the Union address. It’s been quite challenging to shut the place down. In order to shut down the camp, all of the remaining 91 inmates must be relocated to mainland prisons. Officials have reported trying to find holding places in Colorado, South Carolina, and Kansas. Many argue that putting these people closer to America is a national security issue. In addition to politicians protesting relocation, Congress is unlikely to approve the enactment of Obama’s plan, meaning Gitmo will most likely not be shut down during his term. Although it is a priority to many of the presidential candidates, it is unclear as to whether Guantánamo Bay will be shut down anytime soon.