U.S. transfers 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo, leaving just 15 in custody

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — The U.S. has transferred 11 Yemeni detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Oman, the Defense Department announced Monday in a press release.

None of the men were ever charged with crimes. 

There are now just 15 men at the detention facility, the lowest number since the prison was opened in 2002. The detention facility, which is run by a joint task force led by the U.S. Army, was created after President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

In the past month, the U.S. has conducted four transfers that have brought the number of detainees from 30 on Dec. 16 to just 15 on Jan. 6, in what appears to be a push by the Biden administration to work towards its goal of shrinking the population so the facility can eventually be closed. 

Now, according to the Defense Department, among the 15 detainees currently remaining at Guantanamo Bay, three are eligible for transfer, and three are eligible to be considered for a Periodic Review Board to determine whether they’re also eligible to be transferred. 

Seven are involved in the military commissions process, including in the 9/11 case and U.S.S. Cole bombing case, and two detainees have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and two other defendants are expected to plead guilty at hearings at Guantanamo Bay this month, and in exchange, the death penalty will be taken off the table.

The Defense Department said in its release that 10 of the Yemeni detainees “underwent a thorough, interagency review by career professionals who unanimously determined all detainees as transfer eligible consistent with the national security interests of the United States.”

The other, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, was deemed eligible for transfer by a separate process under a different executive order.

The 11 detainees that were repatriated are Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah, Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.

In mid-September, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin notified Congress that he intended to repatriate the 11 detainees.