indefinite detention
Confinement without endpoint
Indefinite detention is imprisonment without a predetermined end date or trial.
The term typically appears in discussions of national security, immigration, and human rights, where governments hold individuals—often suspected terrorists or asylum seekers—without charging them or setting release dates: Critics argue that indefinite detention violates due process.
The practice raises fundamental questions about the balance between security and civil liberties.
- imprisonmentLegal detention in jail
- detaineePerson held in custody
- GuantanamoUS base in Cuba
- black siteSecret extrajudicial detention facility
- war on terrorCampaign against militant violence
asylum · refugee · custody · internment · legal limbo · unlawful · held without charge · limbo · cell · deportation · stateless · immigration hold · tribunal · shackles · waiting · orange jumpsuit · cage · migrant
- detentionjail, captive, prison, captivity, detainee
- oppressionoppression, tyranny, racism, repression, secret police
- rights violationsillegal search, unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, coerced confession, unfair trial
- Gitmomilitary prison, detainees, enemy combatants, interrogation, waterboarding
- military prisonsmilitary prison, military brig, brig, stockade, Leavenworth
indefinite detentionfreedom
Absence of constraint
liberty · release · emancipation · free movement · acquittal
indefinite detentionfair trial
Impartial judicial proceeding
due process · habeas corpus · legal proceedings · criminal conviction · judicial review
indefinite, detention, definite, definitely, indefinitely, define, definition, definitive, undefined