Close Guantánamo In the news

Supporters warn against sending former Guantánamo inmate, now detained in Persian Gulf, home to Russia

A former Guantánamo Bay inmate who has been imprisoned in the Persian Gulf since his 2017 release from U.S. custody may now be forcibly repatriated to Russia, where he could be subject to further detention and abuse, his family and lawyers have warned.

The case of Ravil Mingazov — whom the United States detained without charge for nearly 15 years before sending him to the United Arab Emirates — underscores the challenges President Biden faces as he attempts to shutter a facility that came to symbolize American excesses after the 9/11 attacks.

The Russian national is one of roughly two dozen detainees the Obama administration moved to the UAE, where attorneys and relatives say the men, instead of entering into a temporary rehabilitation program, were locked in years of secretive detention.

Mingazov, 53, has been adamant about his fear of being sent home to Russia, where other returned Guantánamo inmates have been harassed, jailed and beaten, rights groups say. One was killed in a police raid. Read the full story in the Washington Post.