“Political struggles in a ‘black hole’: Detainee resistance in Guantánamo Bay”

Abstract

Guantánamo Bay has become well known for its violation of international human rights, such as inhumane detention, the use of torture, and disregard for medical ethics. Although the oppressive and inhumane treatment of Guantánamo Bay detainees has been well documented by scholars and human rights organisations, what has been given less attention has been the different ways that detainees have challenged torture, and cruel and inhumane treatment within the detention centre. Guantánamo Bay detainees are not agentless individuals. Rather, detainees have used political forms of resistance and protest to challenge US authority and force the US, and the international community, to recognise their rights and innate dignity. This presentation looks at the different ways that detainees have engaged in acts of resistance against torture, force-feeding, and inhumane detention conditions. It focuses on the use of hunger strikes, political writings, and other forms of bodily resistance. This presentation argues that even in inhumane detention facilities, detainees still have the capacity for agency. Detainee protests have been crucial in not only reaffirming their human rights, but also in challenging the legitimacy of Guantánamo Bay.

Bio

Dr Jamal Barnes is a lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities at Edith Cowan University. Dr Barnes received his PhD from Murdoch University, and has previously taught at Murdoch University, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Notre Dame. His research interests include human rights, torture and detention, refugees and migration, international laws and norms, and counter-terrorism. He is the author of the book, A Genealogy of the Torture Taboo, published by Routledge (2017).