The United States transfers 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo prison to Amman Human rights news

Amnesty International welcomed the transfer, but said Guantanamo would remain a “blatant and long-lasting stain” on human rights in the United States.

The United States transferred 11 Yemeni detainees from its prisons The famous Guantanamo Bay Detention Center to Amman after being held for more than two decades without charge as part of Washington’s so-called “war on terror.”

The US Department of Defense said in a statement on Monday evening: “The United States appreciates the readiness of the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and other partners to support ongoing US efforts focused on the responsible reduction of the number of detainees and the eventual closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.”

The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights said that among the 11 detainees transferred to Amman this week was Sharqawi Al-Hajj, who underwent repeated hunger strikes and was transferred to the hospital in Guantanamo in protest against spending 21 years in prison, which came after spending 21 years in prison. the prison. Two years of detention and torture by the CIA.

“Our thoughts are with Mr. El-Hage as he transitions to the free world after nearly 23 years in captivity. His release is a matter of hope for him and for us,” said Pardis Kipriai, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents El-Hage.

Only 15 detainees now remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of about 800 following the September 11, 2001, attacks by Al Qaeda, when then-US President George W. Bush established the Guantanamo prison camp to hold suspects indefinitely and without charges. To them. And not allowing legal challenges to their detention.

Hundreds of men, most of them Muslims, were arrested from dozens of countries as part of the US’s so-called “war on terror”, which also included the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and covert military operations elsewhere around the world.

Conditions at Guantanamo Bay and the treatment of detainees have long sparked outcries from human rights groups and UN experts who have condemned the prison as a site with an “unparalleled reputation”.

Amnesty International welcomed the release of the 11, saying that “the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay represents a blatant stain on the human rights record of the United States.”

Last month, US authorities released a number of prisoners from Guantanamo, including a Tunisian citizen Reda bin Saleh Al-Yazidi They have remained detained in the prison since its opening in 2002 without any charges being brought against them. It was also released Muhammad Abdul Malik Bagabo Who was arrested in Kenya in 2007, and Two Malaysian men Who was detained for 18 years without charge.

Successive US administrations have been called to close Guantanamo, or at least, to release all detainees who have not been charged with a crime. Outgoing President Joe Biden had pledged before his 2020 election to try to close Guantanamo, but it remains in operation just weeks before he leaves office.

Biden administration officials said they are working to identify appropriate countries willing to receive detainees from Guantanamo who have never been charged with a crime.

The Center for Constitutional Rights said that of the 15 men who remained at Guantanamo, six were not charged, and three of them were approved for transfer from the United States.

The Defense Department said the other nine detainees included two convicted and sentenced and seven charged in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, as well as the September 11, 2001, attacks and the 2002 bombings on the United States. Resort island Bali.