So he’s trying to empty it. Monday, his administration announced its single biggest transfer of Guantanamo detainees – 12 Yemenis and three Afghans, who had been held for 14 years without trial, sent to the United Arab Emirates.
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The argument that Guantanamo prisoners should not be released, transferred to other countries or brought to the United States, is based on concern that they hold bitter views toward the United States and might return to combat against USA forces or against Americans at home. Instead, he has pushed to transfer out detainees cleared for release by the federal Periodic Review Board.
One of those transferred was an Afghan called Obaidullah, who was allegedly to have planted land mines in 2001.
“I’ve been working for seven years now to get this thing closed”, President Barack Obama said in a February 23 speech explaining his latest plan to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Part of the trouble in closing the prison are congressional restrictions that bar transferring any detainees to US prisons – leaving Obama’s administration to search for places overseas willing to accept them.
“Once again, hardened terrorists are being released to foreign countries where they will be a threat”, Royce said in a statement.
“The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists”, Mr. Wolosky said.
When President Obama took office in 2009, there were 242 detainees still in the Guantanamo Bay prison, down from a high of nearly 700. He said the detention centre serves only to stoke anti-US resentment and fuel recruitment of Islamic militants. However, a Pentagon detainee profile also said he provided little information and they had little “insight into his current mindset”.
Monday’s expected announcement would represent the largest transfer of prisoners under the Democratic Obama administration.
The reduction in imates is part of Obama’s alternativer plan for closing down Guantanamo, which seeks to reduce the number of inmates enough that the prison would no longer be needed.
So far this year, Obama has released a total of 31 prisoners. Further, the 15 newly transferred detainees were among another 34 already slated for transfer – another 19 detainees are expected to be transferred soon.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to keep the Guantanamo Bay facility open, saying he will fill it with “bad dudes” and “bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding”, referring to the controversial interrogation technique human rights activists regard as torture.
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As Obama points out, Guantanamo has always been a recruiting tool for terrorists, a cash pit for taxpayers and a stain on our national honor.
