Republicans and some Democrats in the United States, however, say the global outreach is not worth the risk to USA security that comes from releasing the type of prisoners who have been held at the naval base.
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The US Defense Department stated that they are transferring 15 detainees that were imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay to the United Arab Emirates.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) released an unclassified Pentagon report last week detailing the extremist backgrounds of more than 100 detainees held or recently transferred from Guantanamo Bay.
US law bars the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to American soil, which a bipartisan majority in Congress supports keeping in place, although the Obama administration is hoping lawmakers change their minds.
But many Republicans remain strongly opposed to bringing inmates to the U.S., saying they are extremely unsafe and do not belong in civilian prisons. The move comes a year after the president’s administration has been working on trying to get the U.A.E.to accept transfers.
“It’s a significant repudiation of the idea that Guantanamo is going to be open for business for the indefinite future”, Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USA’s security and human rights program director, told AFP.
When Obama took office there were 242 detainees at Guantanamo.
The White House also wants to transfer the remaining inmates to the U.S. – but has been blocked by Congress.
Twelve of the prisoners were Yemeni nationals and three were Afghans.
“Once again, hardened terrorists are being released to foreign countries where they will be a threat”, Royce said in a statement. If Clinton wins the election, she will attempt to move the prisoners to the United States and try them as common criminals.
It may be semantics but it means that more prisoners – some more unsafe than those transferred by the Bush administration – are being allowed to leave.
“The Clinton-Obama plan to close Gitmo and release terrorists will harm America’s national security”, the campaign said. However the Obama administration insists that Gitmo damages relationships with Middle East allies.
A US soldier walks next to a razor wire-topped fence at an abandoned detention facility at the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay (file).
“The support of our friends and allies – like the UAE – is critical to our achieving this shared goal”, Wolosky added.
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The UAE has accepted released prisoners twice before – one UAE citizen repatriated in 2008 and five Yemenis resettled a year ago.
