Camp X-Ray
{{Short description|Temporary detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp}}
{{for|the film|Camp X-Ray (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Camp X-Ray
| ensign =
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| native_name =
| partof = Naval Station Guantanamo Bay
| location = Guantánamo Bay
| nearest_town =
| country = Cuba
| image = File:Aerial image of Camp xray, January 2002.jpg
| alt = o
| caption = Camp X-Ray under construction during January 2002
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| type = US military temporary detention facility
| coordinates = {{Coord|19.9382|-75.0970|type:landmark_region:CU|display=title}}
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| pushpin_map = Cuba
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| pushpin_label =
| pushpin_label_position = Location in Cuba
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| ownership =
| operator = US Southern Command
| controlledby = *Joint Task Force 160 (JTF-160)
- Joint Task Force 170 (JTF-170)
| open_to_public =
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| built = {{Start date|1994}}
| used = 1994–1996
2001–{{End date|2002}}
| builder = Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 (2001–2002)
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| fate =
| condition = Closed
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| current_commander =
| past_commanders = *Brigadier General Michael Lehnert
- Brigadier General Rick Baccus
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}}
Camp X-Ray was a temporary detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp of Joint Task Force 160 on board the United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.
The first twenty detainees arrived at Guantanamo on 11 January 2002.
{{cite news
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43858
| title=50 Detainees now at Gitmo; All Treated Humanely
| date=15 January 2002
| author=Jim Garamone
| publisher=Department of Defense
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708045816/http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43858
| archive-date=8 July 2009
| url-status=dead
| access-date=2009-07-29
{{cite news
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=2085
| title=DoD News Briefing – ASD PA Clarke and Rear Adm. Stufflebeem
| date=15 January 2002
| author=Victoria Clarke
| publisher=Department of Defense
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729132126/http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=2085
| archive-date=29 July 2009
| url-status=dead
| access-date=2009-07-29
}}
It was named Camp X-Ray because various temporary camps used to house Cuban and Haitian migrants in the 80s and 90s on board the station were named using NATO phonetic alphabet. The legal status of detainees at the camp, as well as government processes for trying their cases, has been a significant source of controversy; several landmark cases have been determined by the United States Supreme Court.
As of 29 April 2002, Camp X-Ray was closed and all prisoners were transferred to Camp Delta.
Background
File:Prisoner lifted by 115th MPB personnel at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, January 2002.jpg
Camp X-Ray was originally built during Operation Sea Signal to house "excludables" in the mid-1990s when Fidel Castro allowed any Cuban wishing to do so, to cross through the Cuban-operated minefields and enter the base. Excludables were held in Camp X-ray near Post 37 before being sent back to Cuba. Excludables included troublemakers from the regular camps, where the United States was processing Cuban Asylum Seekers (CAS) for emigration to the United States. The US government was at the time allowed access to Cuban records to process these people. Over 100,000 CAS were processed in the mid-1990s and allowed to enter the United States.Image:Camp x-ray detainees.jpgDuring the War on terror, beginning in the fall of 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, the US reestablished the camp for housing captured combatants. To get the camp up and operational Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 sent a detachment that had been working at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The supervision and care of these detainees at Camp X-Ray was handled by Joint Task Force 160 (JTF-160), while interrogations were conducted by Joint Task Force 170 (JTF-170).
{{cite news
| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article5939446.ece
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510012311/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article5939446.ece
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=10 May 2009
| title=The Least Worst Place: How Guantanamo Became the World's Most Notorious Prison by Karen Greenberg
| newspaper=The Times
| author=Stephen Robinson
| date=22 March 2009
| access-date=2009-03-23
| location=London}}
{{cite news
| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302313.html
| title=When Gitmo Was (Relatively) Good
| newspaper=The Washington Post
| author=Karen J. Greenberg
| author-link=Karen J. Greenberg
| date=25 January 2009
| access-date=2009-03-18
}}
{{cite book
| url=https://archive.org/details/leastworstplaceg00gree
| isbn=978-0-19-537188-8
| title=The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days
| publisher=Oxford University Press
| author=Karen J. Greenberg
| author-link=Karen J. Greenberg
| date=March 2009
| access-date=2009-03-18
| url-access=registration
}}
{{cite news
| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/01/23/DI2009012302995.html
| title=Outlook: When Gitmo Was (Relatively) Good
| newspaper=The Washington Post
| author=Karen J. Greenberg
| author-link=Karen J. Greenberg
| date=26 January 2009
| access-date=2009-03-18
}}
JTF-160 was under the command of Marine Brigadier General Michael R. Lehnert until March 2002, when he was replaced by Brigadier General Rick Baccus. Since Camp X-Ray's closure and the subsequent opening of Camp Delta, JTF-160 and 170 have been combined into Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO).
In accordance with U.S. military and Geneva Convention doctrine on prisoner treatment, soldiers guarding the detainees were housed in tents with living conditions "not markedly different" from that of the prisoners while the permanent facilities at Camp Delta were under construction.{{cite news
| url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/interviews/berg.html
| title=Interview: Thomas Berg
| publisher=PBS Frontline
| date=18 October 2005
| access-date=2008-09-01
}} This camp was one of several locations managed by the United States where prisoners had suffered torture by US soldiers and agents in relation to interrogation.{{cite news |publisher=Times Newspapers Ltd. (UK) |date=2 October 2004 |access-date=2009-03-28 |title=Camp X-Ray Briton tells of his 'torture'| author=Daniel McGrory |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article489311.ece | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news|newspaper=Irish Examiner |access-date=2009-03-28 |date=9 October 2003 |title=Dark Age torture at Camp X-ray |author=Paisley Dodds |url=http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2003/10/09/story404882346.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050525233323/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2003/10/09/story404882346.asp |archive-date=25 May 2005 }}
Dick Cheney, as the then Vice President in 2002, said:
Prisoners could be detained until the end of the natural conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1784700.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=No POW rights for Cuba prisoners | date=27 January 2002}}
Forensic examination
File:US Navy 020118-N-3236B-021 Camp X-Ray.jpg members visiting Camp X-Ray in January 2002.]]
According to Carol Rosenberg, writing for the Miami Herald, Camp X-Ray was visited by a court-ordered forensic FBI team in November 2009.
{{cite news| url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/guantanamo/v-print/story/1335533.html
| title=U.S. plans for end of Guantánamo prison camps
| newspaper=Miami Herald| date=15 November 2009
| author=Carol Rosenberg
| author-link=Carol Rosenberg
| archive-url=https://archive.today/20091116104238/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/guantanamo/v-print/story/1335533.html
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=16 November 2009}} The team spent a week photographing the camp and searching for evidence of abuse of prisoners.
Brandon Neely
Camp X-Ray guard Brandon Neely later admitted throwing prisoners to the ground. In 2009, he tracked two inmates down and apologized for his treatment of them, saying that he still felt guilty.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8452937.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Guantanamo guard reunited with ex-inmates | date=2010-01-12 | access-date=2010-04-28 | first=Gavin | last=Lee}} Neely also became involved with the organization Iraq Veterans Against the War.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/media/11bbc.html | work=The New York Times | title=Guantánamo Reunion, by Way of BBC | first=Brian | last=Stelter | date=2010-01-11 | access-date=2010-04-28}}
See also
- This Is Camp X-Ray, a UK art installation based on Camp X-Ray.
- Camp X-Ray, an American independent drama film based on Camp X-Ray.
References
{{Commons category|Camp X-Ray}}
{{Reflist}}
{{GuantanamoExtrajudicialDetentionCamps}}
{{WoTPrisoners}}