MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president Thursday harshly criticized the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, which marked its fifth anniversary today.

Located in the southwest Cuba, the camp has been used to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists captured in a Washington-led global antiterrorism campaign.

Human rights organizations in the U.S. and worldwide have been highly critical of the facility for holding prisoners without trial and over allegations of torture.

"People have been held at the camp without trial for five years, and those released have to defend themselves in national judicial systems," Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with human rights advocates.

Out of some 700 Guantanamo inmates, about 380, including Russian nationals, have been released. The president said he could not recall any charges ever been laid against the prisoners.

"I hope a camp similar to the one at Guantanamo never appears in Russia," Putin said.