The Pentagon announced on Monday that it had transferred 11 Yemeni individuals to Oman, marking a significant step in the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These men had spent over two decades in custody without facing any formal charges.
This transfer is part of a broader initiative by the Biden administration, especially as it approaches the end of its term, to empty Guantanamo of detainees who are still there without charges. With this latest release, only 15 men remain at the facility, a number that is the lowest since 2002. The prison was established by the George W. Bush administration after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as part of what the U.S. labeled its “war on terror,” which included military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other operations.
Among the individuals released in this transfer was Shaqawi al Hajj, who had subjected himself to hunger strikes and wanted to highlight his long detention, which included years of torture and imprisonment in CIA custody prior to his Guantanamo confinement, per reports from the Center for Constitutional Rights. Advocacy groups and various lawmakers have repeatedly urged U.S. administrations over the years to either close the Guantanamo facility or at the very least, release the detainees who have not been charged with any offenses. At its peak, Guantanamo housed around 800 detainees.
Both the Biden administration and its predecessors claim they have been working to secure appropriate countries willing to accept detainees who have not been charged. A significant number of those still at Guantanamo are from Yemen, which is currently facing a complex civil conflict and has a capital under the control of the Iran-backed Houthi group.
While Oman did not officially confirm its acceptance of the prisoners as of early Tuesday, the country has previously received approximately 30 detainees since the opening of the Guantanamo facility. However, the circumstances surrounding the release of these individuals remain unclear. In February, two Afghan detainees formerly resettled in Oman returned to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Additionally, reports indicate that one Yemeni detainee passed away in Oman after negotiating repatriation along with 27 other detainees.
According to the British human rights organization CAGE International, many of the men and their families felt compelled to return to Yemen after the Omani government pressured them, offering each person a sum of $70,000 as compensation. The fate of the 28th detainee in this group remains uncertain.
Currently, following this most recent transfer, six detainees who have not been charged are still held at Guantanamo, alongside two individuals who have been convicted and 7 others facing charges related to significant incidents such as the attacks on September 11, 2001, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and bombings in Bali, Indonesia in 2002.
