President Obama has said that Guantanamo “has damaged our national-security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for Al Qaeda."

In a series of cases -- beginning with Rasul v. Bush in June 2004, the Supreme Court, has made rulings in habeas corpus petitions and other motions filed on behalf of Guantanamo detainees.

Only a few Guantanamo detainees have ever been charged with any type of crime – whether a war crime, an international crime or a crime under any U.S. law. Rather, the detainees have been kept in detention at Guantanamo due to their status as (unlawful) enemy combatants.