The U.S. government this month cleared for transfer three more detainees held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, attorneys say, a step toward reducing the prisoner population in advance of any effort to close the facility.
But to be recommended for transfer by a board composed of the top national security agencies doesn’t mean that a detainee gets to leave Guantánamo.
Attorneys for the detainees, none of whom have ever been charged with a crime, complain that the Biden administration, despite statements that it wants to close Guantánamo, isn’t doing enough to make it happen.
Of the 219 Afghans sent to Guantánamo following the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, only Asadullah Haroon Gul and one other remain. Early this year, the U.S.-backed Afghan government — before the Taliban’s return to power — filed their support for Gul’s release in court, saying his continued detention was “detrimental” to U.S.-Afghan relations.
“It’s really great in my opinion that [Gul] has been recommended for transfer,” said his attorney Mark Maher, from the nonprofit Reprieve. “But it’s not really clear when, if ever, that he’s going to be released from Guantánamo.” Read the full story in the Washington Post.