In 1898 the US invaded Cuba as part of the Spanish-American war. A few years later, Cuba was militarily occupied by the US, and the military governor of the US organized a constitutional convention. Unsurprisingly, under those circumstances, the new Cuban constitution contained language the US wanted. One of those things was the right to establish naval bases on land leased or purchased from the Cuban government. So, the Cubans “leased” the Guantanamo Bay area to the US Navy forever, and the Navy established a base there.
Fast forward a few decades and Fidel Castro and friends overthrow the Cuban government. The revolutionaries don’t have the power to take on the US, so Guantanamo Bay remained in US hands. So, now the US retains this fiction that it’s “leasing” the land at Guantanamo Bay from the Cuban government. But, the puppet government that signed that lease no longer exists, and the current government no longer recognizes the lease. It just doesn’t have the military power to evict the squatter.
The end result is that it’s a military base that’s not on US soil, and not in a country with friendly relations with the US. If it were on US soil, American laws would apply. If it were in a country with friendly relations with the US, then that country would have sovereignty over the land and could limit what the US could do. By being in occupied territory of an enemy country, the only laws that apply are the military’s laws. Theoretically, that means that the place is at least bound by the Geneva Convention. But, practically, they just ignore that because it’s inconvenient.
The end result is that anybody sent to Guantanamo is maybe theoretically under military law. But, practically, they’re under whatever rules the Commander in Chief can convince his military to follow. It’s definitely a place that should not exist, and I look forward to the day when Cuba has enough power and/or friends to finally kick the US out.
Guantanamo Bay is such a strange legal thing.
In 1898 the US invaded Cuba as part of the Spanish-American war. A few years later, Cuba was militarily occupied by the US, and the military governor of the US organized a constitutional convention. Unsurprisingly, under those circumstances, the new Cuban constitution contained language the US wanted. One of those things was the right to establish naval bases on land leased or purchased from the Cuban government. So, the Cubans “leased” the Guantanamo Bay area to the US Navy forever, and the Navy established a base there.
Fast forward a few decades and Fidel Castro and friends overthrow the Cuban government. The revolutionaries don’t have the power to take on the US, so Guantanamo Bay remained in US hands. So, now the US retains this fiction that it’s “leasing” the land at Guantanamo Bay from the Cuban government. But, the puppet government that signed that lease no longer exists, and the current government no longer recognizes the lease. It just doesn’t have the military power to evict the squatter.
The end result is that it’s a military base that’s not on US soil, and not in a country with friendly relations with the US. If it were on US soil, American laws would apply. If it were in a country with friendly relations with the US, then that country would have sovereignty over the land and could limit what the US could do. By being in occupied territory of an enemy country, the only laws that apply are the military’s laws. Theoretically, that means that the place is at least bound by the Geneva Convention. But, practically, they just ignore that because it’s inconvenient.
The end result is that anybody sent to Guantanamo is maybe theoretically under military law. But, practically, they’re under whatever rules the Commander in Chief can convince his military to follow. It’s definitely a place that should not exist, and I look forward to the day when Cuba has enough power and/or friends to finally kick the US out.