Wednesday marks the tenth anniversary of the United States opening a detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The past decade has seen no shortage of controversy about the base, both on legal and moral terms. Barack Obama campaigned for president on the promise to close the base, but signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act on December 31, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial. There are currently 171 prisoners being held there, and no signs of shutting the facility down in the near future. Vijay Padmanabhan, assistant professor of Law at the Vanderbilt Law School, discusses the legal and political future of the base. Padmanabhan was also the U.S. Department of State’s chief counsel on Guantanamo under President Bush from 2006-2008. Brandon Neely, a former Army guard at Guantánamo Bay who gained a great deal of attention for publicly criticizing the camp, talks about what he wants to see happen with Guantánamo.
The story you just read is available for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll get us one step closer to our goal of raising $25,000 by June 14. We need your help now more than ever!