Indefinite detention practices and systemic accountability obstacles at the United States military prison in Guantánamo Bay remain entrenched a quarter-century after the facility opened, researchers and journalists detailed during a public panel discussion in Washington, DC. The event, hosted at Busboys and Poets on September 13th to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the subsequent establishment of the detention camp, was featured on the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) podcast.
The panel brought together two documentarians of the detention operations: Lisa Hajjar, a sociology professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara and a longtime MERIP contributor and editor, alongside John Ryan, a legal affairs journalist and co-founder of Lawdragon Inc. Alka Pradhan, Human Rights Counsel at the Guantánamo Bay Military Commissions representing a defendant in the capital case United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, moderated the discussion.
Two Decades of Documenting Legal Stalemate
Hajjar and Ryan examined the legal and human toll of their combined two decades of reporting, researching, and writing from the base. Hajjar authored The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight Against Torture, published in 2022 by the University of California Press, which chronicles her direct observations of trials at the compound. Ryan has been one of two reporters to report regularly on the military tribunals from Guantánamo Bay since 2015, earning three New York Press Club Awards for his coverage. His book, America’s Trial: Torture and the 9/11 Case on Guantánamo Bay, was published by Skyhorse in 2025.
During the discussion, the speakers pointed to structural obstacles implemented by the US Department of Defense designed to block transparency and impede accountability for prisoners held in the wake of the war on terror. They analyzed the present conditions and future trajectory of the military compound and the individuals still confined within its perimeter, emphasizing that ongoing detention operations continue to bypass standard judicial protections.
Ongoing Legal and Institutional Proceedings
The proceedings at Guantánamo Bay continue under strict military commission oversight, marked by protracted pre-trial motions, disputes over the admissibility of evidence obtained through torture, and persistent logistical restrictions placed on independent observers and legal counsel. The capital case involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and other co-defendants remains mired in these procedural battles over fair trial standards and the legacy of the post-9/11 detention and interrogation program.
