Amnesty International welcomed the transfer but said Guantanamo would remain a “bright spot” on human rights in the US.
The United States has transferred 11 Yemeni prisoners from their homeland The famous Guantanamo Bay imprisoned in Oman after being held for more than two decades without trial as part of what Washington called “the war on terror”.
“The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing efforts in the US that are aimed at reducing the number of detainees and closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the United States Department of Defense said Monday evening.
The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) said among the 11 prisoners transferred to Oman this week was Sharqawi al-Hajj, who was starved and hospitalized at Guantanamo to protest his 21-year prison sentence, which came after that. two years in prison and torture by the CIA.
“Our thoughts are with Al Hajj as he transitions to a free world after nearly 23 years in captivity. His release is a hope for him and for us,” said Pardiss Kebriaei, a CCR lawyer representing al-Hajj.
Only 15 detainees remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800 after the al-Qaeda attack on September 11, 2001 when then US President George W Bush established the Guantanamo prison to hold suspects indefinitely and without trial. and prevent legal challenges to their detention.
Hundreds of Muslim men have been captured from many countries as part of the US so-called “war on terror”, which has also involved the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as covert military operations elsewhere in the world.
The conditions at Guantanamo Bay and the treatment of detainees have been the subject of long-standing complaints from human rights groups and United Nations experts who have denounced the prison as an “unsanitary place”.
In welcoming the release of the 11th, Amnesty International said that “the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay is a visible, permanent stain on the history of human rights in the United States”.
Last month, US officials released several prisoners from Guantanamo, including Tunisia Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi who have been held at the prison since it opened in 2002 without charge. He was released again Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu who was arrested in Kenya in 2007, and two Malaysian men who was imprisoned for 18 years without trial.
Successive US administrations have been asked to close Guantanamo or, release all detainees who have not been charged. Outgoing President Joe Biden made a promise before he was elected in 2020 to try to close Guantanamo, but it is still in the works just weeks before he leaves office.
Biden administration officials say they are working to identify countries willing to take in Guantanamo detainees who have not been charged.
CCR said that of the 15 men who remain at Guantanamo, six are innocent and three of them have been allowed to be extradited to the US.
The Department of Defense said the other nine detainees include two convicted and sentenced, and seven charged in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the September 11, 2001 and 2002 bombings. Bali resort.