Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - Loma Sur, Caimanera, South Hill. The United States assumed territorial control over Guantanamo Bay under the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the United States a perpetual lease of the area. The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was used to house Cuban and Haitian refugees from the 1970s onwards and following the commencement of the war in Afghanistan in October 2001, 775 detainees have been brought to Guantanamo from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, 420 being released without charge. The legal status and physical condition of detainees at Guantanamo has been heavily criticised by human rights bodies worldwide.