Guantanamo Bay Detainees: Facilities and Factors for Consideration If Detainees Were Brought to the United States

What GAO Found

As of November 2012, the Department of Defense (DOD) held 166 detainees in five separate facilities in conditions ranging from communal living to maximumsecurity segregated cells that limit detainee interaction. In addition, DOD maintains facilities and infrastructure dedicated to detention support operations. For example, DOD operates an extensive information-technology infrastructure, conducts operations to support the protection of military personnel, and performs other missions at Guantánamo Bay such as securing two courthouses used for military commissions.

Within the United States, DOD operates six corrections facilities that are equipped to confine servicemembers for more than 1 year. On average, as of August 2012, these facilities were operating at about 48 percent capacity, but this varies across different facilities and housing units. GAO identified from interviews with DOD officials and analysis of detention operations documents several factors that would need to be considered in the event that the Guantánamo Bay detainees were transferred to one of DOD’s U.S. facilities. The following four factors, among others such as legal and cost considerations, would have to be considered: (1) ensuring compliance with international law and U.S. laws and policies; (2) ensuring the continued safety and security of DOD personnel and the detainees, as well as the general public; (3) collecting intelligence information from the detainees; and (4) maintaining current missions and services provided by the corrections facilities and associated installations. For example, DOD’s current ability to minimize risks to the public is attributable to Guantánamo Bay’s remote location and limited access, whereas DOD corrections facilities in the United States are generally located on active military installations in close proximity to the general public. Additionally, DOD officials indicated that locating detention operations on an active military installation could present risk to the installation’s core operations such as administrative and training operations.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), through its Bureau of Prisons and Marshals Service, uses over 2,000 facilities to hold about 280,000 individuals charged with or convicted of federal crimes. Facilities range from low to high security and provide various conditions of confinement. GAO identified from interviews with DOJ officials and analysis of detention operations documents several factors that would need to be considered in the event that the Guantánamo Bay detainees were transferred to one of DOJ’s U.S. facilities. The following three factors, among others such as legal and cost considerations, would have to be considered: (1) formulation of policies and practices for housing the detainees; (2) ensuring the safety of facility personnel, the detainees, and the general public; and (3) identifying adequate space for housing the detainees and maintaining separation of detainees from the current inmate population. For example, according to DOJ officials, existing facilities would need to be modified or current inmates relocated because the Bureau of Prisons and Marshals Service would segregate Guantánamo Bay detainees from the inmate population for security purposes. Also, as of August 2012, system-wide Bureau of Prisons facilities were about 38 percent overcrowded, and holding Guantánamo Bay detainees could require triple bunking of inmates or expansion of facility capacity in order to maintain security for personnel, inmates, and detainees.