US releases four Guantánamo Bay prisoners to Afghanistan
- Official: ‘Repatriation reflects commitment to closing facility’
- Release follows six men sent to Uruguay earlier this month
The US announced on Saturday the release of four more prisoners from the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. The four men were repatriated to Afghanistan.
Paul Lewis, the Defense Department’s special envoy for the closure of Guantánamo, said: “This repatriation reflects the Defense Department’s continued commitment to closing the detention facility at Guantánamo in a responsible manner.”
The men, who had been in the camp for more than 10 years, were named as Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir. They had been cleared for transfer for some time and are not considered to represent security risks in Afghanistan, where US troops are still deployed.
The release of the men reduces the number of inmates held at Guantánamo to 132, eight of whom are from Afghanistan.
A US official told Reuters the men were flown to Kabul overnight, aboard a US military plane, and released to Afghan authorities in the first such transfer since 2009. The official said the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, had requested the transfer.
More releases are expected in the near future.
A Pentagon statement said the men had been “unanimously approved for transfer” by an inter-agency task force and that the secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, had informed Congress of the decision to release them.
According to the Associated Press, the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, had opposed the release. Officials said Campbell and all military leaders on the ground had now screened the move. The AP also reported that an official involved in the review said most of the terrorism accusations against the men had been discarded.
The Pentagon statement continued: “The United States is grateful to the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for its willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.
“The United States coordinated with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”
President Barack Obama issued an executive order to close Guantánamo in January 2009. Earlier this month, six inmates were released to Uruguay.
Among the men released to Uruguay was Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a Syrian man who is challenging in court the Obama administration’s use of force-feeding at the base.
