Eleven Yemeni detainees have been moved from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay to Oman.
The move has left 15 detainees in the prison in Cuba – the smallest number at any point in its history.
In a statement, the Department of Defense thanked Oman for supporting US efforts “focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing” the facility.
Monday’s transfer of the Yemeni detainees is the largest to a single country at one time under President Joe Biden.
The Defense Department said three of the 15 remaining detainees also are eligible for transfer.
Eleven Yemeni prisoners have been transferred to Oman from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay.
The decision has resulted in the smallest number of detainees in Cuban prison history—15.
Oman acknowledged US efforts “focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing” the facility in a statement from the Department of Defense.
After being detained for more than 20 years following the 9/11 terror attacks, none of the men who were apprehended had been charged with any crimes.
The transfer reportedly took place early Monday morning, just days before Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, is set to enter a guilty plea after reaching an agreement with federal authorities to avoid the death penalty.
The number of Yemeni detainees transferred on Monday is the most that President Joe Biden has ever ordered to be sent to one nation at a time.
The United States has stated that Yemen, which is embroiled in a civil war, is too unstable for repatriation, despite efforts to relocate the group to Oman dating back years.
Shaqawi al Hajj, who staged multiple hunger strikes to protest his detention, and Moath al-Alwi, who was released from Guantanamo in 2022 after becoming well-known for constructing model boats out of items he found there, are among those who were transferred.
The Defense Department stated that federal national security review panels approved the men’s transfer, finding it to be “consistent with the national security interests of the United States.”.
Less than a week had passed since the repatriation to Tunisia of Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi, one of the prison’s initial inmates in January 2002, when the transfer took place.
Of the 15 detainees still in custody, three are also eligible for transfer, according to the Defense Department.
Located in southeast Cuba, the military prison is a part of a complex of US naval bases. After the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration created it in 2002 to house suspects apprehended during counterterrorism operations. It housed roughly 800 detainees at its height.
The way detainees were treated and the length of time they were detained without being charged have been the main sources of controversy.
Barack Obama promised to close the prison while he was president. According to him, the prison goes against US values and threatens the country’s reputation as a supporter of the rule of law around the globe.
Obama, who resigned in 2017, also claimed that its presence encourages the recruitment of jihadists and undermines alliances with nations that the US needs to fight terrorism.
During his time in office, however, Obama encountered resistance in Congress to closing the prison, partly because of concerns about the future of the current inmate population. He ordered the release or transferred over 100 prisoners to other nations.
Detainees cannot be transferred to US states, and the US Congress has prohibited their transfer to some nations, such as Yemen, which is embroiled in a conflict.
During his first term, Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the prison open, halting efforts to reduce its population and close it. Trump claimed that the US appeared weak on terrorism as a result of attempts to close the facility or free detainees.
Although it seems doubtful before Trump takes office later this month, President Joe Biden has worked since taking office in 2021 to remove more detainees from the facility in an effort to close it.
