Before the online hacktivist collective Anonymous could proceed its threat of a cyber-attack on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the U.S. military announced they had shut down wireless Internet service at the facility.
Army Lt. Col. Samuel House, a spokesman for the Guantanamo Bay prison, said that in addition to shutting down Wi-Fi access, officials also blocked access to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter through military computer networks.
Though no cyber-attacks have been reported, House says the Internet shutdown was a precautionary move as a result of Anonymous’ threats to disrupt activities at the base. It’s not clear when the Wi-Fi services will be restored to the facility, and it’s likely there won’t be an announcement from the military when the Internet and access to social media is restored.
After the announcement that Wi-Fi had been shut off, Anonymous wrote on Facebook, “You shut the WiFi down in GTMO, we will shutdown Guantanamo. #opGTMO”
Anonymous’ threats against the detention facility came in response to the mass hunger strike occurring at the prison and as part of the group’s #OpGitmo campaign, which was started to protest the wrongful detainment of Guantanamo prisoners and show solidarity with those on a hunger strike.
“We stand in solidarity with the Guantanamo hunger strikers. We will shut down Guantanamo,” Anonymous said in an online post. “Guantanamo Bay must be closed at once, and the prisoners should be either returned to their home countries or given a fair trial in a federal court. Guantanamo Bay is an ongoing war crime. Anonymous will no longer tolerate this atrocity.”
On Monday, the military reported that 103 of the 166 prisoners were on a hunger strike as part of a protest against their living conditions and indefinite detainment. Amnesty International has reported that detainees have been subjected to torture, including prolonged stays in solitary confinement and sensory deprivation. Lights are kept on 24 hours a day and cells are kept at uncomfortably low temperatures.
Some prisoners have even gone without food for 100 days or more, prompting the U.S. to begin force-feeding at least 24 prisoners to keep them from dying. Force-feeding has been repeatedly condemned by human rights organizations and the United Nations in recent weeks following detainees’ cries for help to the international community.
What was going to be involved in the cyber-attacks against Guantanamo was not clear, but Anonymous promised “twitter-storms, email bombs and fax bombs” would be part of the action that was scheduled to occur May 17-19.
Anonymous has posted telephone numbers for the White House and U.S. Department of Justice and encouraged the public to “phonebomb” political leaders with questions about Guantanamo.
The cyber-threats from Anonymous may not have been the only reason officials decided to turn off the Wi-Fi.
In April, it was announced many legal files had been disappearing from the computers for defense lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees and ended up on the computers of the prosecution. An investigation was launched into the issue since it was not known whether or not it was an IT issue or a security breach.
Defense lawyers said that they began noticing their files were disappearing from the Pentagon computers in February and said they had evidence third parties may have been monitoring their emails.