Imprisoned for more than 20 years, none of them were brought to trial; US base in Cuba now has 15 detainees
The government of the President of the United States, (Democratic Party), carried out on Monday (6 January 2025) the transfer of 11 detainees from Guantánamo, a US base in Cuba, to Oman. According to , those arrested are citizens of Yemen. Now, Guantánamo holds 15 prisoners.
“The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the Pentagon said.
The transferred men were detained after the attacks of September 11, 2001. More than 20 years passed without being officially charged or brought to trial. All of them had their transfer approved by national security authorities more than 2 years ago, some more than that. The transfer, however, had not been carried out for diplomatic and political reasons.
The United States government determined that the prisoners no longer posed a significant enough threat to remain in prison. The transfer, however, depended on Oman guaranteeing security “robusta”, in some cases. Oman said it will help the men find jobs, housing and provide other support systems to help them rebuild their lives.
Originally, the transfers were supposed to take place in October 2023, but were halted by concerns in the US Congress about instability in the Middle East due to Hamas’ attack on Israel. With the transfer, only 15 detainees remained at Guantánamo, which represents a reduction of more than half the number of prisoners.
According to the radio network NPRthe fact that the Biden administration carried out the transfers in the last two weeks of government is seen as a last effort by his administration to reduce the population of detainees at Guantánamo, getting closer to the ultimate goal of closing the facilities.
Previously, the United States transferred another 4 men detained at Guantánamo, 2 from Malaysia, 1 from Tunisia and 1 from Kenya. The transfer of 1 more prisoner, from Iraq, is being prepared.
The Guantánamo transfers take place under the assumption that they could stop when Donald Trump (Republican Party) returns to the presidency of the United States. His inauguration is scheduled for the 20th of this month. The Republican had already promised that he would keep Guantánamo open and that he would “Load her up with some thugs”.
The transfer of 11 men from Yemen was the result of lengthy diplomatic negotiations. Although the detainees were eligible for release, they remained imprisoned because they were legally prohibited from returning to their country of origin. The US then began looking for another country to accept the prisoners. Oman, which is an ally of the Americans, had already accepted at least 30 Guantánamo detainees.
According to the US Department of Defense, all of the men transferred from Yemen are former members of Al-Qaeda, although several of them dispute what the United States reports about their backgrounds. Some of them were detained in secret CIA prisons (the US Central Intelligence Agency), before arriving at Guantánamo between 2002 and 2004.
