Word: guant
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Guantánamo Bay has been seeped in controversy for the greater part of the century. Located on the southeastern tip of Cuba, it is the only U.S base located in a communist country. The 45-square-mile site was originally used as a coaling station for U.S. Navy ships, under a lease drawn up in 1903. U.S. possession of Guantánamo was reaffirmed under former Cuban president Batista in 1934 with a provision that the lease could not be terminated without mutual consent - a provision that was challenged to no avail by Fidel Castro following the Cuban Revolution...
...President, I will close Guantánamo," Barack Obama promised in 2007. Now, as President-elect, shutting down the infamous prison camp he referred to as a "sad chapter in American history" is shaping up as one of his first priorities...
...people detained in Guantánamo since its establishment, many were found to be noncombatants with no ties to either the Taliban or al-Qaeda, many of them mistakenly apprehended or wrongfully turned over by anti-Taliban bounty hunters in Afghanistan. Only around 250 prisoners remain in Gitmo, the majority of whom have either already been cleared or are expected to be cleared of charges due to lack of evidence...
...However, all signs point to the fact that the process of closing Guantánamo once and for all will be exactly that - a process. Housing the remaining detainees on the U.S. mainland to await trial is fraught with issues of its own, including a debate over what type of court would be best equipped to handle such cases, the technical aspects of repatriating and releasing any prisoners cleared of guilt and the question of how or whether to try suspects against whom evidence has been gathered through torture or classified means...
...emerging Obama transition team has yet to spell out its plans for closing Guantánamo officially. Campaign officials say the President-elect is still forming the legal team that will advise him on that and other issues once he begins making decisions as President. Obama has not spoken on the issue since winning the presidential election and has offered no signs that he discussed the matter with President Bush when visiting the White House on Monday. But there's little doubt that the Guantánamo problem Bush leaves behind for Obama will be one of the hardest...