Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Essay

Following 9/11, there was a steady increase in detention without charge, which violated the concept of the right to a fair trial, long considered to be a fundamental human right and enshrined in American law. When the United States government introduced a preventative detention program, 1182 people were detained in the first seven weeks of the program alone and around 5000 people, mainly Muslims or Arabs, have been detained in total. The majority of those detained were held on vague anonymous accusations, few faced any charges, and the vast majority were never convicted of a crime. The existence of Guantanamo Bay, which serves as a focal point for this essay, poses a particular threat to the right to a fair trial, as those detained are

While the concept of fairness is constantly evolving, there are a few key features that mark a fair trial. The court must be independent and impartial, and should generally be held in public. Furthermore, there must be a belief that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty, the defendant must be permitted to defend himself and have access to legal aid, attend the trial, have access to all relevant information, and must be clearly informed as to what he is being accused of. However, this has been compromised by the existence of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which was established by President George W. Bush’s administration in 2002 as part of the ‘war on terror’ and has been used to hold inmates suspected of terror in prolonged indefinite detention without trial. This violates U.S. obligations under international law and denies the inmates the right to a fair trial, which is considered to be a human right. Since the establishment of Guantanamo Bay in January 2002, almost 800 people have been detained without the right to a trial, the legality of this was brought to question in three landmark court cases, judged by the United States Supreme