The White House has no imminent release date for the expected Pentagon report on where to relocate Guantanamo Bay detainees on American soil if it closes the us military prison there.
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Washington, D.C.-Human Rights First today praises the transfer of five detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United Arab Emirates, but notes that the pace of transfers must increase if the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is to close by the end of President Obama’s term in office.
The Pentagon has transferred five Yemeni detainees who had been held for more than a decade at Guantanamo Bay.
The prison was established in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. Earlier this year, the United States transferred four Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to Oman and a fifth to Estonia. 4 of the 5 detainees -al-Qadasi, al-Busays, al-Nahdi, & al-Asani – had been really helpful for convey by the duty force as of January 2010…
The Pentagon said the transfers took place “consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures” and that it was grateful to the Emirati government for its cooperation in helping close the prison. He was initially suspected of not only having a role in 9/11, but being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.
The resettlement of the Yemeni detainees was the first of its kind to the United Arab Emirates, which had previously taken in just one former Guantánamo detainee, in 2008 – its own citizen. They could not be sent to their homeland because the usa considers Yemen too unstable to accept prisoners from Guantanamo amid an ongoing Saudi-led war against Shiite rebels there.
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In May, President Barack Obama met at Camp David with leaders or representatives of the six Middle Eastern countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council, including a representative from the United Arab Emirates. Seventeen other wartime prisoners could also be awaiting transfer, the NY Times states, citing an official familiar with internal deliberations. The latter option was rejected by the Senate last week, when it passed a defense spending bill that bans moving Guantanamo detainees to the US.
