11 Yemeni prisoners transferred from Guantanamo Bay prison to Oman
Last Updated on January 11, 2025 5:54 am
Eleven Yemeni prisoners have been transferred from the notorious US prison at Guantanamo Bay to Oman. The Joe Biden administration moved the prisoners on Monday (January 6), just two weeks before leaving office. Human rights organizations have welcomed the move. As a result, only 15 prisoners remain in the prison.
The US Department of Defense announced in an announcement that 11 Yemeni prisoners have been released from Guantanamo prison with the help of Oman. However, they were not sent to their home countries. Instead, they were taken to Oman. They were told that they will be rehabilitated there.
After the September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks, the US launched the so-called ‘war on terror’. At that time, Guantanamo Bay prison was built to detain Afghans. After that, many people from various countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa were detained there without trial.
According to the US Department of Defense Pentagon, the number of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay stood at 680 as of 2003. However, some reports put the number at 800. From the beginning, there have been serious allegations of physical and mental torture, prolonged detention without trial, and denial of access to lawyers or justice.
For a long time, some human rights organizations and lawmakers had been demanding their release and the closure of Guantanamo Bay. In the face of strong criticism and protests from human rights groups, the prisoners have started to be released in recent years.
According to the Pentagon, the names of the 11 detainees who were transferred are Osman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Osman, Moaz Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, Khalid Ahmed Qasim, Suhail Abdul Anam al-Sharabi, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad al-Bihani, Omar Mohammad Ali al-Ramah, Sanad Ali Islam al-Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali bin Attash, Sharkabi Abdu Ali al-Hajj and Abd al-Salam al-Hilah.
The US human rights organization Center for Constitutional Rights said that Sharkabi al-Hajj was imprisoned without trial for 21 years. He has gone on hunger strike several times. For this reason, he has also had to go to the hospital. He was tortured for two consecutive years in CIA custody.
Amnesty International welcomed the transfer but called Guantanamo a “long-standing human rights scandal”. The group said the torture and long-term detention of detainees at the prison were a gross violation of international human rights law.
The prison, built on a US naval base in southeastern Cuba, now holds only 15 prisoners. Of these, six are being held without charge. Two have been convicted and seven are facing charges in connection with the 9/11 attacks. The Omani government has not commented on the transfer. There is no information about 28 prisoners who have been sent to Oman in the past.
The British human rights group Cage International said one of them, a Yemeni, died in Oman. Of the others, 26 returned to Yemen with $70,000 in compensation. The fate of the 28th prisoner is unknown.
Sources: Reuters and Al Jazeera