Words that should be banned: Gitmo

This fun-loving Disneyesque term describes the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Gitmo is where detainees are kept. Detainees are people arrested on suspicions of terrorist activity.

Gitmo detainees are held outside the US so that activities there are not restricted to the US Constitution which states that arrested people have a right to a lawyer and cannot be held indefinitely without charge. At Gitmo, you can hold them as long as you like and never provide lawyer. At Gitmo, there are no Geneva Conventions on treatment of prisoners of war because the people held at Gitmo are not prisoners. They are detainees.

Gitmo is a term used by US military and political insiders. It is colloquial and folksy. Gitmo should not be used by media organizations such as CBC radio which recently mentioned the fun-loving term several times in a broadcast.

Yes, CBC it is fun to say Gitmo just like it's fun to say Bingo or Dumbo or Satchmo. But saying in saying the fun word Gitmo, you are getting into bed with the very fun-loving people who created and support its premise.

Let's ban Gitmo and call an undemocratic breach of US-style justice an undemocratic breach of US-style justice.