Guantanamo Bay US base & detention camp, Cuba

After the Cuban Revolution, some Cubans sought refuge on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In late 1961, Cuban troops planted a 13 km long, 3 m wide barrier of cactus along the fence surrounding the base in order to prevent checkpoint evasion .

Under a 1987 law barring emigration of HIV positive individuals into the US. The US Coast Guard transferred Cuban and Haitian asylum seekers to Guantanamo Bay, the 267 Haitian refugees tested positive to HIV were held at there. The last Haitian migrants departed Guantanamo on 1 November 1995.

Beginning in 2002, a small portion of the base was used to detain several hundred enemy combatants. The Geneva Conventions apply in wars between two or more sovereign states. The US designation of irregular opponents as "unlawful enemy combatants" has been used to deny them the protection of the Geneva Conventions, in particular any trial. Cases of alleged torture of prisoners by the U.S. military have also been reported. Of the roughly 780 people detained there since January 2002 when the military prison first opened after the September 11 attacks, 733 have been transferred elsewhere, 37 remain there, and 9 have died while in custody.