Introduction

This book aims to make a distinctive contribution to understanding the lengthening history of the Guantánamo Bay prison or detention facility, by combining in one single volume the perspectives of historians, legal theorists and practitioners, journalists, human rights activists, and – most important of all – the testimony of some of the people who were detained and tortured there. The strong underlying theme of all our contributors is the depth of the injustice committed by the US at Guantánamo Bay, the urgency of closing it down, and the importance of helping to repair the damage it has caused - in particular, by restoring full freedoms to former detainees unless fully lawfully convicted in fair trials and then also not with an unlimited sentence by default or illegal intent.
In this introduction, we first locate the present volume in the history and the already vast literature on Guantánamo. We then summarize the individual contributions in the book.