The U.S. military sent 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Oman to rebuild their lives, the Pentagon said Monday, leaving just 15 men in the prison in a bold push at the end of the Biden administration, which has kept the prison population lower than ever before. During its history of more than 20 years.
None of those released have been charged with a crime during their two decades in prison. All but six of the remaining prisoners are now in prison accused or convicted of war crimes.
When President Biden took office and revived the Obama administration's effort to close the prison, there were 40 inmates.
The Pentagon launched the secret operation early Monday, days before Guantanamo Bay's most notorious detainee, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, pleaded guilty to masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. in exchange for a life sentence rather than being sentenced to death.
Delivery had been working for about three years. The initial plan was for the transfer to take place in October 2023 It was derailed by Congress opposition.
There are also 11 people who have been released Moat al-Alwia former long-term hunger strike that caught the attention of the art world building model boats From the items found in Guantanamo prison; Abdulsalam al-Hilahis statement was requested by the defenders USS Cole case; and Hasan bin Attash, younger brother Defendant in the 9/11 conspiracy case.
All detainees have been cleared for transfer through federal national security review panels.
US officials have refused to disclose what the US has given to Oman, one of the US's most stable allies in the Middle East, and what guarantees it has received in return. By law, the military cannot send Guantanamo detainees to Yemen because it is considered too unstable to track and rehabilitate returnees as a country embroiled in a brutal civil war.
The United States typically pays stipends to host countries for housing, education, rehabilitation, and supervision of the men's activities. The United States has also asked host countries to prevent ex-Guantanamo detainees from leaving the country for at least two years.
Few details of the rehabilitation program have emerged from the reclusive nation of Oman, led by the sultan. Saudi Arabia showed his reintegration center He appealed to journalists and academics for the Guantanamo detainees, but Oman did not.
U.S. officials have called Oman's program “well-rounded” and designed to help Yemenis return to society with jobs, homes and families.
The Obama administration sent 30 prisoners to Oman from 2015 to 2017. One person died there, and the rest were sent home – 27 were sent to Yemen, and two were sent to Afghanistan. the sensitivity of diplomatic negotiations.
Many Yemenis married and had children in Oman and were repatriated with their families.
Word of the successes reached the Yemeni prisoners at Guantanamo, making Oman a desirable resettlement country. George M. Clarkeattorney for two of the men transferred this week.
“It's not just culturally appropriate,” Mr Clarke said. “This is because they are given enough decent freedom and they are successfully integrated into the society properly. This is what carries out the resettlement works.”
The men sent to Oman were captured by US allies or taken into US custody between 2001 and 2003. Mr Clarke said they were eager to rejoin the world of mobile phones and the internet.
“They want to live their lives,” said representative Mr. Clark Tawfiq al-Bihani and Mr. Bin Attash. “They want to get married. They want to have children. They want to find a job and lead a normal life.”
In October 2023, a military cargo plane and a security team were already at Guantanamo Bay to transport 11 detainees to Oman, with protests from Congress prompting the Biden administration to end the mission that finally took place this week.
By that time, the prisoners leaving this week had already gone through exit interviews with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and guards had taken their personal belongings to travel with them.
Over the next year, Tina S. Kaydanow, the Biden administration's Guantanamo representative, kept the deal alive through negotiations, travel and meetings both within the US government and with the host country, a State Department official said. Mrs. Kaydanow died in October.
Three more detainees at Guantanamo may be transferred, including stateless Rohingya, Libyan and Somali.
Besides, the State Department was trying to Find a nation to buy and provide healthcare For a disabled Iraqi man who pleaded guilty to commanding illegal forces in Afghanistan during the war. US officials plan to send him to a prison in Baghdad. however, he is suing the Biden administration to block the transfer on the grounds that he would be at risk in his homeland.
Guantanamo Bay today is a emptier, quieter place than ever before.
The remaining 15 inmates are housed in two prison buildings with cell spaces for approximately 250 inmates.
The prison was opened on January 11, 2002 with the arrival of the first 20 prisoners from Afghanistan. At its peak in 2003, the operation involved about 660 prisoners and more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel under the command of a two-star general. When the prisons were built, prisoners were mostly kept in open-air cells on a cliff overlooking the water.
The operation currently has 800 soldiers and civilian contractors – 53 guards and other staff for every prisoner – and is led by a junior officer, Colonel Stephen Kane.
Most of the shipments were returned to countries including Afghanistan, Algeria, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. In addition, Belize has accepted a Pakistani man who was found guilty of war crimes and became a collaborator of the government. Majid Khan was joined by his wife and daughter.