Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Spanish: Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo /ˈɡɪtmoʊ/ GIT-moh as jargon by members of the U.S. military[1]) is a United States military base occupying a location on 45 square miles (117 km2) of land and water[2] on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba.

Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, for alleged unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places during the War on Terror.

[7][8] The base has been a focal point for debates over civil liberties, notably influenced by the landmark 2008 Supreme Court decision in Boumediene v. Bush.

This ruling affirmed the constitutional right of detainees to challenge their detention through habeas corpus, highlighting the ongoing tensions between national security measures and fundamental civil liberties.

The cemetery holds over 350 burials including that of Captain Henry Smith who died as a result of injuries received during the sinking of his ship the SS Delmundo by the German submarine U-600 on 13 August 1942.

[citation needed] The geography of Windward Point is such that there are many coves and peninsulas along the bay shoreline providing ideal areas for mooring ships.

The Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay with naval support, and American and Cuban forces routed the defending Spanish troops.

[20] The Constitution took effect in 1902, and land for a naval base at Guantanamo Bay was granted to the United States the following year.

Due to the large increase in population during the training months, the Naval Base quickly established facilities to support everyday functions.

[29] The base was also an important intermediate distribution point for merchant shipping convoys from New York City and Key West, Florida, to the Panama Canal and the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

[32] This area is complete with perimeter patrols, outposts featuring sandbags, and watchtowers,[13] and has been complemented with barbed wire fences, minefields, and cacti.

[32] Apart from the cacti, both U.S. and Cuban troops erected, maintained, and otherwise manned these defenses, primarily to prevent checkpoint evasion and possible invasion from the other side.

[36] Dependents traveled to the airfield for flights to the United States, or to ports for passage aboard evacuation ships.

When the Cuban government accused the United States of "stealing water", base commander John D. Bulkeley ordered that the pipelines be cut and a section removed.

A similar gun, possibly also salvaged from the Monongahela, is on display near the Bay View Club on the Naval Station.

[62] Major contractors working at NSGB have included the following:[citation needed] Ocean transportation is provided by Schuyler Line Navigation Company, a U.S.

The airfield was named for Bowman H. McCalla, who was a United States Navy admiral in charge of the Battle of Guantánamo Bay.

A district court has since held that the "Geneva Conventions applied to the Taliban detainees, but not to members of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

[73] A study published by Seton Hall Law's Center for Policy and Research, while making no conclusions regarding what actually transpired, asserts that the military investigation failed to address significant issues detailed in that report.

[75] In January 2009, President Obama signed an executive order directing the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year.

Senator Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii and chairman of the appropriations committee, said he favored keeping Guantanamo open until Obama produced a "coherent plan for closing the prison.

[78][better source needed] On 7 March 2011, Obama issued a new executive order permitting indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees.

[79] This decision was codified into federal law by provision added to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

[80] In early February 2021, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden declared his intention to shut down the facility before he leaves office.

Majid Khan, who pleaded guilty before a Military Commission in 2012, had completed his sentence of 10 years, and was released to Belize.

[85] In March 2023, Ghassan al-Sharbi was released to his home country of Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo Bay, after being deemed no longer necessary to detain in order to protect the United States from a national security threat.

[87] In June 2023, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Fionnuala Ní Aoláin released her final report on the detention center.

The report concludes that prisoners endure "ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" and that the detention center should be closed.

[88][89][90] Despite the prohibition on the establishment of "commercial or other enterprises" as stated in Article 3 of the second part of the lease, several recognized American food outlets have been opened at the military base.

Notable people born at the naval base include actor Peter Bergman[104] and American guitarist Isaac Guillory.