The Pentagon has announced that 15 Guantanamo detainees have been sent to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the largest single transfer during the Obama administration on Monday (15 August).
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Located on the eastern edge of Cuba, the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay has housed prisoners taken captive in war on terror since 2002.
The 15 detainees – 12 Yemenis and three from Afghanistan – include four former bodyguards for Osama bin Laden.
President Barack Obama failed in his promise to release all the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within his first year of office.
US military documents released by the Pentagon earlier this year showed 116 detainees who had previously been released from Guantanamo were “confirmed of re-engaging” in terrorist activity.
The inmates, who included nationals from Afghanistan, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, will be transferred to the UAE, a US State Department official told CNN. Zakir was subsequently released from Afghan prison for no apparent reason whatsoever and returned to the Afghan battlefield as a senior commander.
Dr Alshateri said the UAE was following “through with its commitment to combat terrorism by all means including efforts to rehabilitate detainees”. Of those already taken in, there have been no complaints of maltreatment, said Clive Stafford Smith, the director of the British-based advocacy group Reprieve, which represented one of the Yemenis released. Arabic is the main language and its pretty close to home..
“The United States is grateful to the Government of the United Arab Emirates for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing USA efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility”, the Defense Department stated. Now there are just 61 detainees left, a sharp drop from 242 imprisoned in 2009. Thus, the help of other nations is very welcomed. The Cuban prison initially opened following 9/11 and acted as a detention for terrorist suspects. The prison drains resources and encourages violent extremists.
The president faces opposition about the future of the prison from many members of Congress.
The prisoner release was criticized by the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the AP reports: Rep. Ed Royce called the detainees “hardened terrorists”.
Six of the newly released prisoners had been approved for transfer for more than six years – the Guantanamo Review Task Force, which reviewed cases starting in 2009, had unanimously approved them, the Department of Defense said in a press release.
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Most of the prisoners freed from Guantanamo Bay – a total of 532 – were released under the previous administration.
