US transfers 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison to Oman

Amnesty International welcomed the transportation but said Guantanamo would stay a ‘glaring, longstanding stain’ connected quality rights successful the US.

The United States has transferred 11 Yemeni detainees from its notorious Guantanamo Bay detention centre to Oman aft holding them for much than 2 decades without complaint arsenic portion of Washington’s alleged “war connected terror”.

“The United States appreciates the willingness of the authorities of Oman and different partners to enactment ongoing US efforts focused connected responsibly reducing the detainee colonisation and yet closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the US Department of Defense said successful a connection connected 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 had undergone repeated hunger strikes and hospitalisations astatine Guantanamo to protestation his 21 years successful prison, which came aft 2 years of detention and torture by the CIA.

“Our thoughts are with Mr Al Hajj arsenic helium transitions to the escaped satellite aft astir 23 years successful captivity. His merchandise is hopeful for him and for us,” said Pardiss Kebriaei, a lawyer astatine CCR who represents al-Hajj.

Just 15 detainees present stay astatine Guantanamo, down from a highest of astir 800 successful the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda erstwhile then-US President George W Bush acceptable up the Guantanamo situation campy to clasp suspects indefinitely and without complaint and disallowing ineligible challenges to their detention.

Hundreds of mostly Muslim men were seized from dozens of countries arsenic portion of the US’s alleged “war connected terror”, which besides progressive the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and covert subject operations elsewhere astir the world.

Conditions astatine Guantanamo Bay and the attraction of detainees person agelong prompted outcries from quality rights groups and United Nations experts who person condemned the situation arsenic a tract of “unparalleled notoriety”.

Welcoming the merchandise of the 11, Amnesty International said the “military detention installation astatine Guantanamo Bay is simply a glaring, longstanding stain connected the quality rights grounds of the United States”.

In the past month, US authorities person released respective prisoners from Guantanamo, including Tunisian nationalist Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi who had been held astatine the situation since it opened successful 2002 without ever being charged. Also released was Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu who was arrested successful Kenya successful 2007, and two Malaysian men who had been held for 18 years without charge.

Successive US administrations had been called connected to adjacent Guantanamo or, astatine least, merchandise each those detainees ne'er charged with a crime. Outgoing President Joe Biden had pledged earlier his predetermination successful 2020 to effort to unopen down Guantanamo, but it remains successful cognition conscionable weeks earlier helium leaves office.

Biden medication officials said they were moving connected identifying suitable countries consenting to instrumentality detainees from Guantanamo who were ne'er charged with a crime.

CCR said that of the 15 men who stay astatine Guantanamo, six are uncharged and 3 of those person been cleared for transportation from the US.

The Defense Department said that the 9 different detainees see 2 who person been convicted and sentenced, and 7 who person been charged successful narration to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole naval vessel arsenic good arsenic the September 11, 2001 attacks and the 2002 bombings connected the edifice land of Bali.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies