15 Guantanamo detainees sent to UAE in major transfer

[webfact]

15 Guantanamo detainees sent to UAE in major transfer 
DAVID McFADDEN, Associated Press

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Fifteen prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center were sent to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release of detainees during the Obama administration, the Pentagon announced Monday.

 

The transfer of 12 Yemeni nationals and three Afghans to the UAE comes amid a renewed push to whittle down the number of detainees held at the U.S. prison in Cuba that President Barack Obama aims to close.

 

The Pentagon says 61 detainees now remain at Guantanamo, which was opened in January 2002 to hold foreign fighters suspected of links to the Taliban or the al-Qaida terrorist organization. During the Bush administration, 532 prisoners were released from Guantanamo, often in large groups to Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

 

The latest batch of released prisoners had been held without charge at Guantanamo, some for over 14 years. They were cleared for release by the Periodic Review Board, comprised of representatives from six U.S. government agencies.

 

The UAE successfully resettled five detainees transferred there last year, according to the Pentagon.

 

Lee Wolosky, the State Department's special envoy for Guantanamo's closure, said the U.S. was grateful to the United Arab Emirates for accepting the latest group of 15 men and helping pave the way for the detention center's closure.

 

"The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists," Wolosky said.

 

Obama has been seeking to close the detention center amid opposition from Congress, which has prohibited transferring detainees to the U.S. for any reason. The administration has been working with other countries to resettle detainees who have been cleared for transfer.

 

Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USA's director of national security and human rights, said the transfers announced Monday are a "powerful sign that President Obama is serious about closing Guantanamo before he leaves office."

 

U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, a Republican from California who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized the Obama administration for recent releases, portraying the freed detainees as "hardened terrorists."

 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence says 5 percent of Guantanamo prisoners released since Obama took office have re-engaged in militant activities and an additional 8 percent are suspected of doing so. That compares with 21 percent confirmed and 14 percent suspected during the Bush administration.

 

According to Amnesty, one of the Afghans released to the UAE alleged that he was "tortured and subjected to other cruel treatment" while in U.S. military custody. The man, identified only as Obaidullah, was captured by U.S. special forces in July 2002 and allegedly admitted to acquiring and planting anti-tank mines to target U.S. and other coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan.

 

In clearing him for transfer, the review board said he hasn't expressed any anti-U.S. sentiment or intent to re-engage in militant activities. However, a Pentagon profile from last year also said he provided little information and they had little "insight into his current mindset."

 

One of the Yemeni men sent to the UAE was identified as Zahir Umar Hamis bin Hamdun, who the Pentagon alleged traveled to Afghanistan in 1999 and after training at a camp acted as a weapons and explosives trainer.

 

A Pentagon profile from September 2015 said he expressed dislike of the U.S., which they identified as "an emotion that probably is motivated more by frustration over his continuing detention than by a commitment to global jihad."

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-16

[wwest5829]

Some held for over 14 years without charges...Hmm, as an American, lock me up like this, no charges, no trial and see if you do not create a radical seeking revenge. Bomb my family, kill those who have done nothing but live in the wrong place at the wrong time and see if you do not create a migrant seeking safety in countries not being destroyed.

[Credo]

If I were locked up for 14 years without charges, I might find Jesus, but I don't think I'd decide to start killing anyone -- unless of course I was a killer to begin with.    

 

There are many, many prisoners who have been wrongfully incarcerated for many years.   When they are released, they usually don't go on a killing spree, join a jihad group, head off to become a member of Posse Comitatus.   

 

As is usually the case, it is the somebody else's fault that they are such dick heads.   

[Kiwiken]

If you did not have it beforehand it would be hard not to hold a grudge against a Country that took you from your Family and village humiliates you, locks you in a debilitating Prison thousands of miles from your home. And then dumps you after having laid no charges in some Foreign Country where they do not even speak your language.

How would you feel going home to see children that are adults now but were little children when you were taken. How do you put your life back together.

[Ulysses G.]

44 minutes ago, Kiwiken said:

 

How would you feel going home to see children that are adults now but were little children when you were taken.

 

If I was involved in terrorism, I would figure I had it coming and most of these men did. I would also be full of gratitude that the USA let me go when I did not deserve it.

[Kiwiken]

And what of the Uighurs held for 12 years even though they had been cleared by the US Military after one year. How justifiable is your solution then