Irish Examiner view: Guantánamo Bay’s dark anniversary

In the 20 years of Gitmo’s existence, only 12 detainees have been charged and only two have been convicted by military commissions

The control tower is seen through the razor wire inside the Camp VI detention facility in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. Picture: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Twenty years ago, it would be a certain bet that few of us, outside of Cuban citizens, South American scholars, and the American military, could have pointed to Guantánamo Bay on a map of the world, much less have known that the US government had a lien on it, created more than a century earlier through the end of a war with Spain.

The advantage of Guantánamo, or ‘Gitmo’, was that it stood outside of US legal jurisdiction.