The US Department of Defense announced yesterday, Monday, that it handed over 11 Yemenis to the Sultanate of Oman this week after they were detained for more than two decades without charges in Guantanamo, the controversial prison inside the US military base in the east of the island of Cuba, in which only 15 prisoners remain held there.
The Pentagon said in a statement, “The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of the Sultanate of Oman and other partners to support current American efforts to responsibly reduce the number of detainees and ultimately close the Guantanamo Bay facility.”
This announcement comes a week after a Tunisian detainee was transferred from Guantanamo to his country.
According to the Pentagon, among the 15 remaining prisoners at Guantanamo, there are “3 eligible for immediate transfer to their country or to a third country, and 3 eligible to have their files reviewed to consider the possibility of their release, while charges were brought against 7 others, and the remaining two were convicted.”
The most prominent of these 15 detainees is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the “mastermind” of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The United States used Guantanamo Bay to detain people it arrested during what it called the “War on Terror” that followed the September 11 attacks, in an attempt to deprive them of the rights guaranteed by American law.
The prison, which was opened during the era of former President George W. Bush, held about 800 prisoners at its peak, before the vast majority of them were slowly transferred to other countries.
Like former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden pledged before his election to seek to close Guantanamo, but his term is nearing the end and the detention center is still open.
The conditions of detention in Guantanamo have always drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations, which accused the United States of carrying out torture and human rights violations there.
Last updated: January 7, 2025 – 11:56
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