This State Department document is a point-by-point response to an opinion (not enclosed) by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the United Nations former Commission on Human Rights, to the U.S. detention of Al Qaeda operatives and others the U.S. has labeled as participants in the War on Terrorism. The response provides historical background and context to the U.S. decision to establish the Guantanamo detention facility and to keep suspected terrorist in detention there.