A Guantanamo Timeline
2002
| Jan 11. | First group of 20 detainees arrives at Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray, and they are housed in open-air cages with concrete floors. The International Committee of the Red Cross makes its first visit six days later. |
| Jan. 18 | President Bush decides detainees' standing as terrorists disqualifies them from prisoner-of-war protection under the Geneva conventions. |
| Jan. 22 | After a Navy photo is released showing detainees in goggles and masks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld defends the detentions of "committed terrorists." |
| Jan. 27 | Vice President Cheney calls the detainees "the worst of a very bad lot. They are very dangerous. They are devoted to killing millions of Americans." |
| Feb. 12 | U.S. officials say they envision a long-term prison camp on the island. |
| Feb. 21 | Federal judge dismisses a challenge to the detentions. |
| Feb. 27 | Almost two-thirds of detainees go on a hunger strike to protest a rule against turbans in the first organized act of defiance. U.S. officials decide to allow the turbans. |
| March 21 | The Bush administration announces new military tribunal regulations. |
| April 25 | Construction of the new 410-bed Camp Delta is completed. |
| Oct. 27 | Four detainees — three Afghans and a Pakistani — are released. |
2003
| March 11 | Federal appeals court rules that the detainees have no legal rights in the United States. |
| July 3 | Bush designates six suspected al Qaeda terrorists eligible for military tribunals — the first since World War II. |
| September | Arrests become public of two translators and a Muslim chaplain who worked at Guantanamo on charges relating to alleged espionage and improper use of classified documents. The case against the chaplain later unravels. |
| Oct. 9 | The Red Cross issues a public statement noting "deterioration in the psychological health of a large number of detainees." |
| Nov. 10 | U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear the Guantanamo case. |
| Dec. 3 | Australian detainee David Hicks becomes the first prisoner to be given a lawyer. |
2004
| Jan. 12 | Five military lawyers assigned to defend detainees say they plan to tell the Supreme Court that some of the rules drawn up for the military tribunals are unconstitutional. |
| April 20 | Supreme Court hears arguments on the Guantanamo detentions. |
The Washington Post
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