US dramatically shrinks Guantanamo prisoner population to 15 men

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By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration slashed the prisoner population at Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba by nearly half on Monday, sending 11 detainees to Oman.

The U.S. military said only 15 detainees remained there after the transfer, following a major push towards closing the facility by Biden’s administration in its final days in office.

The detention center was first opened on Jan. 11, 2002 by President George W. Bush to hold terrorism suspects and “illegal enemy combatants” during the U.S. “War on Terror” following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Guantanamo Bay housed roughly 680 prisoners at the detention center’s peak in 2003, according to Pentagon data.

The latest transfer of the 11 men, all of whom are from Yemen, leaves the U.S. naval base in Cuba with fewer detainees than when it opened with the arrival of prisoners from Afghanistan.

“The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the U.S. military said in a statement.

The Pentagon named the 11 men transferred as: 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.

Of the remaining 15 detainees, the Pentagon said three are eligible for transfer and an equal number are eligible for a periodic review board to examine their cases. The remainder have been charged or convicted of war crimes.

The facility has long been criticized by human rights groups and legal advocates over potential breaches of international human rights laws and conditions at the camp.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Chris Reese and Lincoln Feast.)