| Joint Task Force Guantanamo | |
|---|---|
| Active | November 2002 - present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | Joint |
| Part of | United States Southern Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Guantanamo Bay Naval Base |
| Motto | Honor Bound to Defend Freedom[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Rear Admiral David B. Woods |
Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) is a U.S. military joint task force based at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on the southeastern end of the island. JTF-GTMO falls under US Southern Command. Since around 2002 the unit has operated the Guantanamo Bay detention camps Camp X-Ray and its successors Camp Delta, Camp V, and Camp Echo where there are detained prisoners captured in the war in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The unit is currently under the command of Rear Admiral David B. Woods, who replaced Rear Admiral Jeffrey Harbeson in August 2011. Previous commanders have included Army Major General Geoffrey D. Miller, who took command in November 2002.
The status of these detainees is disputed. The United States government defines them as enemy combatants, claiming their status was not that of a prisoner of war as recognized under the Geneva Conventions (due to not being affiliated with any government, being alleged members of Al Qaida or groups affiliated with them). On June 29, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that they had the minimal protection of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions in that detainees must be housed and treated humanely.
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In 1992, Operation Sea Signal was established to prepare for a mass migration of refugees from Haiti and Cuba.[2] In 1994, Operation Sea Signal led to the creation of Joint Task Force 160. JTF 160 was responsible for housing and processing more than 40,000 migrants awaiting repatriation or parole to the United States. Camp X-Ray was established to segregate migrants who had committed crimes such as theft, assault and battery, prostitution and black-market activities from other migrants and from U.S. civilians and military service members at Guantanamo.
In 1996, Operation Sea Signal came to an end. Camp X-Ray was abandoned.
In December 2001, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Joint Task Force 160 was reactivated. Camp X-Ray was prepared as a temporary location for detention operations. In January 2002, the first detainees are brought to Guantanamo Bay and housed in Camp X-Ray. The International Committee of the Red Cross makes its first visit six days later. The ICRC has continued quarterly visits up to 2010. In February 2002, Joint Task Force 170 was created as the intelligence task force to work side by side with Joint Task Force 160.
In April 2002, construction of the new 410-bed Camp Delta (Camps 1, 2, 3) was completed. The detainees were moved from Camp X-Ray to Camp Delta that month. In November 2002 Joint Task Force 160 and 170 were merged to create Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
The Joint Detention Group is one of the components of the Task Force. It is the organization assigned to guarding the captives, and maintaining camp security.[3] The guards within the Joint Detention Group come from the United States Army, United States Navy, and other United States Armed Services.
In 2009, guards outnumbered prisoners in Guantanamo by more than five to one.
The officers commanding the Joint Detention Group have included:
Enlisted personnel live in prefabicated quarters, similar to shipping containers.[5] Each prefab unit houses four to six personnel. Each prefab unit ships with a toilet and sink, but no internal partitions. Occupants are allowed to erect curtains to make temporary partitions, for privacy. Occupants share communal showers, shared between prefab quarters.
Officers and senior non-commissioned officers typically share cottages left over from family residences that were constructed when the base had a larger permanent population.[6][7] Four occupants will share a two bedroom cottage.
According to Commander Daniel Jones, JTF-GTMO's Staff Judge Advocate, JTF-GTMO staff[7]:
"The chow here is probably the best I’ve had and a mainstay of each day’s activities. A surf and turf and special birthday meal are served at least once a month. By the end of your tour in GTMO you’ll either weigh 300 pounds or be able to bench press 300 pounds. Nevertheless, you can look forward to a farewell BBQ and presentation of the highly coveted GTMO Bar Association Certificate."
Joint Task Force Guantánamo's motto is 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.'
Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom is the title of a 2004 book by Victoria Brittain (a former The Guardian foreign editor) and novelist Gillian Slovo (ISBN 1-84002-474-7).
Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom is also a 2004 play, based upon interviews with the families of men detained in Guantanamo Bay, by the same authors. It premiered at the Tricycle Theatre in London in 2004 and transferred to Off Broadway.[8]