Chapter 3 Conditions of Detention | 43 76. 77. 78. 52 53 54 55 56 ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba over the lands and waters subject to the lease.” 52 Therefore, according to this understanding, Guantanamo Bay was considered to be a law-free zone where officials could detain non-citizens outside the sovereign territory of the United States and without interference from federal courts. With regard to the legal status of prisoners held at Guantanamo, on January 9, 2002, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo addressed a memorandum to the Department of Defense on “the application of treaties and laws to Al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees.” 53 The memorandum concludes that the Third Geneva Convention applicable to prisoners of war “do[es] not protect members of the al Qaeda organization, which as a non-State actor cannot be a party to the international agreements governing war” and that “these treaties do not apply to the Taliban militia.”54 Following the endorsement of this legal opinion by White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, President George W. Bush decided that Al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees were not prisoners of war under the Third Geneva Convention. 55 The IACHR notes that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell requested the President to reconsider that decision given that it would “undermine public support among critical allies” and “reverse over a century of U.S. policy and practice in supporting the Geneva Conventions and undermine the protections of the laws of war for our troops.” 56 It is in this context that the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay on January 11, 2002, where they were held in indefinite detention. The United States Government justified the indefinite detention and the denial of the prisoners’ right to challenge the legality of their detention and to any internationally recognized status under the laws of war by classifying them as “enemy combatants,” a distinct category not recognized under international law. The IACHR notes that since President Obama took office in 2009 there have been some changes in the position of the United States Government regarding the legal status of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The United States has recognized that the laws of war govern the detention and treatment of the detainees and has Memorandum for William J. Haynes, II, General Counsel, Department of Defense, re: Possible Habeas Jurisdiction over Aliens Held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from Patrick F. Philbin and John C. Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, December 28, 2001, p.3. Memorandum for William J. Haynes, II, General Counsel, Department of Defense, re: Application of Treaties and Laws to Al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees, from John Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and Robert J. Delahunty, Special Counsel, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, January 9, 2002. Available at: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB127/02.01.09.pdf Memorandum for William J. Haynes, II, General Counsel, Department of Defense, re: Application of Treaties and Laws to al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees, from John Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and Robert J. Delahunty, Special Counsel, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, January 9, 2002, p. 1. Memorandum for the President, re: Decision Re Application of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War to the Conflict with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, from Alberto R. Gonzales, January 25, 2002. Available at: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB127/02.01.25.pdf Statement of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Mendez, IACHR’s Hearing on the human rights situation of detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base, United States, Washington D.C., October 28, 2013. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR