The Biden administration is discreetly building the framework to free Guantanamo Bay prisoners or, at the very least, bring the facility closer to closure.
More than half of the 39 men held indefinitely without charge at the US facility in Cuba can now safely go to their homelands or another nation according to a review board made up of military and intelligence experts.
Decisions on some of these detainees, including those that were denied in prior evaluations, have been made in recent weeks. The administration faced criticism by human rights groups for not doing enough to close Guantanamo. Only one prisoner was free from prison in the last year.
A glance at the current situation:
Is the Biden administration planning to close Guantánamo?
No, as a result of the most recent rulings, 20 convicts are now considered eligible for release or transfer. One is due to finish his sentence soon after convictions by military commission in a plea deal.
There is still much to do. Thereby, including identifying countries prepared to receive inmates and imposing security measures on them in some situations. However, in the next weeks and months, some may begin to leave.
Is this a sign that the US is getting closer to abolishing Guantanamo?
Yes, in theory. Even if the United States releases all 20, the question of what to do with the remainder remains. Ten people are still facing trials by a military panel.
Five Guantanamo Bay prisoners have allegations of planning and assisting in the September 11 attacks. The death penalty case has been mired in pre-trial litigation for years. It has yet to see the light of day. Plea bargains could be one option for settling all ongoing cases. But it still leaves the question of where they would serve their sentences unanswered.
What brought us here?
Following the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan, the US opened the detention center in January 2001 under President George W. Bush to hold and question inmates suspected of having ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
Around 780 men have been detained at Guantanamo, with a high of around 680 in 2003.
The men imprisoned there were notoriously characterized as “the worst of the worst” by Bush’s defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. But many were low-level militants, others had no link to terrorism at all. Few would ever be charged with a crime.
The detention camp became a lightning point for international outrage from American allies and a propaganda jackpot for opponents as reports of torture and abuse surfaced.
Bush freed 532 detainees, but he left it up to his successor to decide what to do with the rest.
When President Barack Obama took office, he promised to close Guantanamo Bay. Members of Congress opposed the concept of transporting detainees to the US, even to stand prosecution in federal court.
The Obama administration established the Periodic Review Board. It was to assess inmates and determine if they may be freed without endangering national security. 197 detainees were free from Guantanamo Bay during Obama’s presidency.
A single prisoner was released as part of a plea bargain under Trump. Thus, bringing the total number of inmates to 40.
Guantanamo has mostly faded from the political spotlight, and Biden has said little about it. Only one prisoner is out under his watch so far.
What’s been going on in the last several weeks?
Human rights organizations commemorated the 20th anniversary of Guantanamo’s establishment in January. Thereby, lamenting what they regarded as a lack of progress toward closure. Since then, there’s been some behind-the-scenes movement with the Periodic Review Board. It has always been unpopular with inmate advocates but has been one of the few ways out of solitary confinement. When Biden took office, five detainees cleared; four were Obama administration holdovers and Trump had previously approved one. So far, 15 prisoners cleared under Biden’s watch, with more than a half-dozen in recent weeks.
This is what the Biden administration considers a “deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and closing of the Guantanamo facility,” according to said Pentagon deputy press secretary J. Todd Breasseale.
The age and health of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners are among the considerations they assess, according to Breasseale. Mohammed al-Qahtani is a mentally sick Saudi who intended to be one of the 9/11 hijackers, according to officials. However, a suspicious Customs officer stopped him at the Orlando airport.
An attempt to trial al-Qahtani by military commission went down after a Bush legal officer ruled that he had been tortured at Guantanamo.
Saifullah Paracha, a Pakistani with various medical issues who, at 74, is the oldest prisoner at Guantanamo. He also cleared under Biden’s watch.
The PRB recently cleared a 47-year-old Somali who is the first of the “high-value detainees”. They were classified as such because they were held in secret CIA prisons known as black sites.
Reactions
The decision on al-Qahtani has enraged some Republicans in Congress. Rep. Mike Rogers, the leading Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, described it as “an appalling capitulation to the far-left.”
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, is critical of the strategy of closing Guantanamo Bay. He recently defended it as “a highly secure, humane, and entirely legal place to detain terrorists.”
Congress must be notified in advance of any pending transfers or releases under the statute. But it has little power to prevent them.
There is a wait-and-see mentality among detainee advocates. They applaud the PRB’s choices but want to see how quickly the administration implements them.
Wells Dixons is an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. He is waiting to hear what happens with his client, Majid Khan. Majid Khan is a prisoner who has reached a plea deal and is nearing the end of his sentence.
He said the administration needs to start releasing those who have cleared. “It’s a positive thing for these men to be cleared,” he said. “But it’s not meaningful progress toward closure unless there are transfers.”