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Guantanamo Bay is such a strange legal thing.
In 1898 the US invaded Cuba as part of the Spanish-American war. A few years later, Cuba was militarily occupied by the US, and the military governor of the US organized a constitutional convention. Unsurprisingly, under those circumstances, the new Cuban constitution contained language the US wanted. One of those things was the right to establish naval bases on land leased or purchased from the Cuban government. So, the Cubans “leased” the Guantanamo Bay area to the US Navy forever, and the Navy established a base there.
Fast forward a few decades and Fidel Castro and friends overthrow the Cuban government. The revolutionaries don’t have the power to take on the US, so Guantanamo Bay remained in US hands. So, now the US retains this fiction that it’s “leasing” the land at Guantanamo Bay from the Cuban government. But, the puppet government that signed that lease no longer exists, and the current government no longer recognizes the lease. It just doesn’t have the military power to evict the squatter.
The end result is that it’s a military base that’s not on US soil, and not in a country with friendly relations with the US. If it were on US soil, American laws would apply. If it were in a country with friendly relations with the US, then that country would have sovereignty over the land and could limit what the US could do. By being in occupied territory of an enemy country, the only laws that apply are the military’s laws. Theoretically, that means that the place is at least bound by the Geneva Convention. But, practically, they just ignore that because it’s inconvenient.
The end result is that anybody sent to Guantanamo is maybe theoretically under military law. But, practically, they’re under whatever rules the Commander in Chief can convince his military to follow. It’s definitely a place that should not exist, and I look forward to the day when Cuba has enough power and/or friends to finally kick the US out.
Better remove the embargo so we can TARAAFF them
“Please God it would be so fucking funny…”
ha! got em
The installation and its grounds are sovereign US soil. It doesn’t matter what Cuba says or wants.
It is most certainly not sovereign US territority. We began leasing it from Cuba in 1903.
ETA: If it were US, the prisoners there would have rights. That’s the whole point of putting a prison there.
Leasing doesn’t mean that it’s not sovereign territory. It just means you pay the country for being there.
I swear the opinion that Lemmy users have of their understanding of topics which are extremely obviously beyond their knowledge never ceases to amaze me.
lol so everyone else has shown how you clearly don’t understand sovereign territory, but it’s also pretty clear you have no clue what “leasing” means either. Do you think leasing somehow magically gives you ownership of something? Like if you lease a car from the dealership do you think you own that car?
The base, which is considered legally to be leased by the Cuban government to the United States, is on territory that is recognized by both governments to be sovereign Cuban territory.
Silence after a source is my favorite thing about discussions
Hence wikipedia’s become a target. Can’t have reliable sources interrupting the flow of bullshit.
wOkEpEdIa
Should be noted it’s considered legally leased by the US government. Cuba has been telling the US to get out for decades now.
I love irony.
So confidently wrong.
For some legal purposes we treat it like soverign soil. But it isn’t actually soverign soil or we wouldn’t be leasing it.
You realise the US would have to care for all the deported people in what would now be a refugee camp.
Technically as well they aren’t event getting deported just relocated to a camp in US territory.
I suppose you could say they are concentrating the problem in one place.
It is not for deportees. That is the excuse to get it built, but as you pointed out, it makes no sense. It is for political opponents.
Yeah, it’s awful, immoral, injustice, and downright dumb for a bunch of other reasons. I just don’t really care what Cuba has to say about it.
Maybe so, but I’m glad they are saying it anyhow. Every person or nation that publicly resists is inspiration for another to do the same.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/MWgX8XqoE52rvGag7
Might want to review that link. They don’t want a concentration camp on their land.
