Guantánamo Bay

It costs an estimated $13 million per prisoner per year, making it the most expensive detention program in the world.

Saifullah Paracha, 75, was held at the U.S. facility for 18 years without ever being charged. He arrived in Pakistan on Saturday.

Many Americans have only seen a few carefully-selected images of the prison and the people incarcerated there. But this summer, The New York Times published vivid images of the first incarcerated people brought to Guantanamo Bay.

After 20 years of failure, the U.S. military court in Guantánamo is admitting a 9/11 trial may never happen. Instead, the defendants may plead guilty, serve life in prison and avoid the death penalty.

Twenty years ago, President Bush ordered the creation of a secretive prison at Guantanamo Bay. Many were innocent. Many were tortured. Two presidents tried to close Gitmo -- and failed. And we’re still stuck with it.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University School, about the future of the U.S. military court and prison at Guantanamo Bay.

But a majority of the court appeared inclined to defer to the government's position that the release of information on Abu Zubaydah's treatment would hurt national security.

The Department of Homeland Security insists there are no plans to transfer Haitian migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Guantanamo. But the base has been used to house Haitian refugees before.

Afghanistan's fall and the Taliban's resurgence have raised fears that if President Biden releases additional Guantánamo prisoners, they may join the militant group or return to the battlefield.

Since 2002, the prison has housed members of al-Qaida and the Taliban. At its peak, Guantanamo Bay had almost 680 people detained at the installation.