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15711. Guantanamo Bay Military Prison: Narratives and Numbers

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Guantánamo Bay Data Project serves as a central source of information on the Guantánamo Bay Military Prison. This project provides a comprehensive picture of the prison, centering the lives of the boys and men detained at the naval base. It depicts the global impact Guantánamo has had on the lives of hundreds of Muslims, their families, and communities as a whole. Many discussions of the U.S. Guantánamo base focus solely on the role, legal rationale, costs, and management of the U.S. government. However, this project seeks to highlight the trauma inflicted upon those held at the prison and the larger ‘war on terror’ apparatus that has wielded Islamophobia to justify the 780 Muslim boys and men, many of whom were subject to . This resource provides visualized demographic data on every single person who has been imprisoned at Guantánamo, including age, country of origin, country of repatriation, “non-enemy combatant” status, and listed mental illnesses. We also provide an overview of the history, laws, and policies of the naval prison, a more in-depth discussion of the aggregated data, the status of those who remain imprisoned, and future plans for the prison.
Topic:
Torture, Prisons/Penal Systems, War on Terror, and Guantanamo Bay
Political Geography:
North America, United States of America, and Guantanamo

15712. Factsheet: Louie Gohmert

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Louie Gohmert is a Republican representative from Texas with a long history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, including claims that “terror babies” were being raised to destroy the American “way of life.” Gohmert has connections with prominent anti-Muslim organizations, including ACT for America, and associations with individuals in the transatlantic anti-Muslim movement.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Republican Party
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

15713. Factsheet: The History and Evolution of Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, located in Cuba, was chosen as the site of a detention center due to its uncertain legal status—allowing the U.S. government to argue that those detained at the base were not entitled to certain rights under U.S. laws. The prison at the base consists of several distinct camps, each with differing security levels, transparency, and categories of detainees. Former President Barack Obama promised to close the prison but failed to do so. Former President Donald Trump pledged to not only keep the prison open but fill it with more detainees. Current President Joe Biden has promised to shut down the military prison.
Topic:
Prisons/Penal Systems, War on Terror, Detention, and Guantanamo Bay
Political Geography:
Cuba, North America, and United States of America

15714. Factsheet: The Human Cost of Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Guantánamo Bay military prison is a site of egregious and ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the United States government. Opened in early 2002 on a U.S. naval base in Cuba, the prison has housed 780 adults and minors from around the world—all Muslim—most of whom have been subjected to torture and severe abuse at the hands of the U.S. armed forces and the CIA. Most were never formally charged with any crime and were detained for years without trial. As of 2022, thirty-nine remain imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay prison.
Topic:
Human Rights, Torture, Prisons/Penal Systems, War on Terror, Guantanamo Bay, and Arbitrary Detentions
Political Geography:
Cuba, North America, and United States of America

15715. Factsheet: Legal Challenges to Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
U.S. legislation and case law have both upheld and challenged the legal authority of the Guantánamo Bay military prison. This includes the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the Military Commissions Act of 2006, as well as Supreme Court cases such as Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) and Boumediene v. Bush (2008). Serious legal issues have arisen around the legal rights and protections of those imprisoned, including the right to habeas corpus and the right to be tried under the U.S. legal system (as opposed to U.S. military tribunals). Attorneys for those imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay military prison have been subjected to surveillance and interference by the U.S. government, and the U.S. government tightly controls the release of information about the military prison and those imprisoned there.
Topic:
Human Rights, Law, Guantanamo Bay, and Habeas Corpus
Political Geography:
Cuba, United States of America, and Guantanamo

15716. Factsheet: Torture at Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
A majority of those imprisoned at the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp were subjected to various forms of physical and psychological abuse—techniques that were developed by two American psychologists contracted by the CIA to develop its torture program. The torture included but was not limited to waterboarding, sexual harassment and abuse, physical abuse, and sleep deprivation. Those formerly imprisoned still experience physical and psychological distress and trauma as a result of their treatment in Guantánamo Bay. A 2014 U.S. Senate intelligence report found the torture program was ineffective in its stated goal of obtaining military intelligence.
Topic:
Human Rights, Torture, Trauma, and Guantanamo Bay
Political Geography:
Cuba, United States of America, and Guantanamo

15717. Factsheet: Freedom and Direct Democracy (Svoboda a přímá demokracie, SPD)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Freedom and Direct Democracy (Svoboda a přímá demokracie, or SPD) is a far-right political party in the Czech Republic that was established in 2015. Founded as an anti-elitist and anti-Muslim populist party, SPD cooperates with other far-right and anti-Muslim European political parties and is a member of the Identity and Democracy (I&D) group in the European Parliament.
Topic:
Populism, Far Right, Political Parties, European Parliament, Muslims, and Svoboda a Přímá Demokracie (SPD)
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

15718. Factsheet: The League (Lega, Lega Nord, The Northern League)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Northern League (Lega Nord) is a far-right political party in Italy that rebranded itself as the League (Lega) in the run-up to the 2018 general election. Umberto Bossi established the party in 1991 as a federation of six regional parties in north and north-central Italy and it was led by Roberto Maroni until 2013. Under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, the League amplified anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments. In southern Italy, the League recently established a sister party named Us with Salvini and ran for election under the title “Salvini Premier.” In the 2018 general election, the League was the third-largest party and formed a coalition with the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD). After the 2019 European Parliament election, it became the largest party and co-founded the the anti-Muslim and far-right parliamentary group Identity and Democracy.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, and Northern League (Lega Nord)
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

15719. Factsheet: Counter-Jihad Movement

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The self-described “Counter-Jihad Movement” (CJM) is a network of European and North American anti-Muslim movements, institutions, political parties, authors, bloggers, and activists who claim that ‘Western civilization’ is “under attack” by Islam. While CJM is an informal network, participants in the movement have used the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s annual Human Dimension and Implementation Meeting (HDIM) to disseminate its anti-Muslim ideology in European and North American policy circles annually since 2007. Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik cited numerous CJM members as inspiration for his deadly attacks in 2011.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Networks, Far Right, and Counter-Jihad Movement (CJM)
Political Geography:
Europe

15720. Factsheet: Gates of Vienna

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Gates of Vienna is an international far-right, anti-Muslim blogging website established in 2004 by the United States-based blogger Edward S. May and his wife. The website features the work of hard-line anti-Muslim writers and is a central player in the counter-jihad movement within the United States and across Europe. The blog has served as a platform for Fjordman, a Norwegian anti-Muslim writer, whose views were the ideological inspiration of Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik.
Topic:
Ideology, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Website
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America