Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a military prison owned and operated by the United States and located within the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in the southeastern part of Cuba (Oriente Province), 522 miles from Miami, Florida. The base, also referred to as G-Bay and GTMO, is situated on a 45-square-mile section of territory (land and water) that the United States has been leasing since 1903. As part of the lease, the U.S. government pays the Cuban government approximately $4,000 per year, but the practice of payment for leasing the land has not taken place since 1959.

The Guantanamo Bay Detention Center came into operation in January 2002, shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, believed to be orchestrated by al Qaeda. ...