US defence secretary says Guantánamo detainees 'should have been executed long ago'

The statement in Tampa

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told journalists in Tampa, Florida, that the remaining detainees at Guantánamo Bay should have been executed. He was responding to a reporter who asked why the 15 remaining prisoners had not been put to death to deliver justice for the victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

“In my personal opinion, the detainees in Guantánamo should have been executed long ago for their crimes against the American people.”

Status of the remaining detainees

Pentagon figures from early 2025 show that only two of the 15 detainees have been convicted by military commissions. Proceedings against a further seven are still underway. The camp once held nearly 800 people, many of them held for years without trial and, according to the reports, some were tortured.

The Guantánamo facility

The US base at Guantánamo Bay sits on Cuba's south-eastern coast. Washington has controlled the territory since 1903 under a lease agreement that Havana has regarded as invalid since the 1959 revolution. The detention camp was built after the 9/11 attacks and has drawn sustained criticism from human-rights groups over indefinite detention and the use of military tribunals.

Reaction and criticism

Hegseth's remarks drew immediate criticism, with reports noting that several legal proceedings are still open. Successive US administrations have tried to close the prison, but efforts stalled because few countries agreed to take in the remaining detainees.