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President Barack Obama addresses the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia.2009.

Background
Executive order 13492 signed on January 22nd, 2009 is the review and disposition of individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and closure of detention facilities. This executive order was a result of growing concerns by the American people and governments abroad that America was practicing inhumane behavior against detainees and prisoners of war. This behavior could not be practiced for it violated the third Geneva Convention which was adopted in 1929 but significantly revised at the 1949 conference following the end of the second world war.

After Barack Obama signed executive order 13492 the shutdown of Guantanamo Bay in 2009 was almost inevitable, given that the pressure from "nongovernmental organizations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and even some American allies called to close the facility. However, after President Obama signed Executive order 13492 on January 22, 2009, the administration realized that their timeline of closing the facility within the one year promised timeline would not be feasible. The detention facility could not be shut down given that most of the detainees did not have proper paperwork and many had never been tried. After the administration realized that that lack of paperwork and other needed evidence was missing, the process of shutting down Guantanamo Bay was stopped. Furthermore, the prevention of closing the facility made the process of transferring detainees almost impossible. On December of 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum directing the secretary of Defense and the Attorney general to make arrangements so that detainees at Guantanamo bay be transferred to prisons and facilities inside of the USA to finally finish with the closing of the Guantanamo Bay U.S naval base and prison. The majority of the prisoners were to be transferred to the Illinois Thomas Correctional Center; however, because of the resistance among congress and the growing idea among citizens, that terrorists were coming into the country, the closing of Guantanamo Bay was delayed even further. Moreover, two years after the failure of trying to transfer detainees to the mainland, congress exercised, in the 2011 Defense Authorization Bill, the lack of funds to be available to make the transition project, to bring all Guantanamo bay detainees to the mainland. As of June 2011, over 100 detainees remain in custody in Guantanamo Bay and as of 2018, the facility remains open.