The Gitmo Souvenir Shop

Online booking vacation package deals await. In the Herald Sun:

[A]s the detainees lie locked in cages, visitors can windsurf and fish.

The 1.5 million US service personnel and Guantanamo’s 3000 workers are eligible to visit the “resort”, which has a McDonald’s, KFC, Wal-Mart and a bowling alley.

The holiday comes cheap: only $42 a night for a fully equipped, airconditioned unit.

It is the souvenirs that have attracted most criticism. One gift shop T-shirt is decorated with a guard tower and barbed wire.

It reads: “The Taliban Towers at Guantanamo Bay, the Caribbean’s Newest 5-star Resort”.

A child-size T-shirt says: “Someone who loves me got me this T-shirt in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba”.

There are mugs inscribed with “kisses from Guantanamo” and “Honor Bound To Defend Freedom”.

The Guantanamo holiday trade was exposed by Zachary Katznelson, a lawyer who represents 28 detainees and makes regular visits to the prison.

“The military keeps a tight hold on Guantanamo Bay and someone senior has given their approval for this disgusting nonsense,” he said.