Amnesty International welcomed the move but said Guantánamo would remain a “glaring, long-standing stain” on human rights in the US.
The United States has transferred 11 Yemeni detainees from its notorious Guantanamo Bay detention center to Oman after holding them without charge for more than two decades as part of Washington’s so-called “war on terror.”
“The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts aimed at responsibly reducing the number of detainees and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement Statement on Monday evening.
The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) said that among the 11 detainees transferred to Oman this week was Sharqawi al-Hajj, who went on repeated hunger strikes and hospitalizations at Guantanamo to protest his subsequent 21st prison sentence -year sentence to protest two years imprisonment and torture by the CIA.
“Our thoughts are with Mr. Al Hajj as he transitions to the free world after nearly 23 years in captivity. His release is a hope for him and for us,” said Pardiss Kebriaei, a lawyer at CCR who represents al-Hajj.
Only 15 detainees are currently held at Guantanamo, a decline from a peak of nearly 800 following the al-Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001, when then-U.S. President George W. Bush established the Guantanamo detention center to hold suspects indefinitely Time and without charge and the rejection of legal challenges to their detention.
Hundreds of mostly Muslim men from dozens of countries were arrested as part of the so-called “war on terror,” which included the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and covert military operations elsewhere around the world.
Conditions at Guantanamo Bay and the treatment of detainees have long sparked outcry from human rights groups and United Nations experts, who have condemned the prison as a place of “unprecedented notoriety.”
Amnesty International welcomed the release of the 11 people, saying the “military detention center at Guantanamo Bay is a glaring, long-standing blot on the United States’ human rights record.”
Last month, U.S. authorities released several prisoners from Guantanamo, including Tunisian national Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi, who had been held at the prison since it opened in 2002 without ever being charged. Also released were Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, who was arrested in Kenya in 2007, and two Malaysian men who had been held without charge for 18 years.
Successive U.S. administrations have been urged to close Guantánamo or at least release all detainees who have never been charged with a crime. Outgoing President Joe Biden promised to close Guantánamo before his election in 2020, but just weeks before he leaves office, Guantánamo is still operating.
Biden administration officials said they are working to identify suitable countries willing to accept Guantanamo detainees who have never been accused of a crime.
CCR said that of the 15 men remaining at Guantánamo, six were not charged and three of them were cleared for transfer from the United States.
The Defense Department said the nine other detainees include two people who were convicted and sentenced and seven who were convicted in connection with the bombing of the Navy ship USS Cole in 2000, as well as the Sept. 11, 2001, bombings in 2001 The holiday island of Bali was prosecuted in 2002.
