# Order to Close Guantánamo Bay

> Ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility within a year and a review of detainee cases — a promise never fulfilled.

Barack Obama · Justice & Civil Liberties · Executive Order · EO 13492 · Jan 22, 2009
Official record: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E9-1893

## What happened

Ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility within a year and a review of detainee cases — a promise never fulfilled.

## How it happened

Executive order signed two days into the term; Congress blocked transfers and funding.

## Documented impact

- [negative / substantiated] The facility was never closed. — Congressional restrictions on transfers kept Guantánamo open well beyond the one-year deadline — a signature unmet pledge.
- [positive / contested] Signaled a break from post-9/11 detention policy. — Paired with an order banning torture/'enhanced interrogation,' it shifted detainee and interrogation policy even as closure stalled.

## Sources

- [Federal Register: EO 13492](https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E9-1893)

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Canonical: https://eo.alanwizemann.com/eo/obama/order-to-close-guant-namo-bay