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Champ plans to transfer dozens from Gitmo
The Obama administration plans to transfer dozens of detainees from Guantanamo Bay over the next six months, with as many as five detainees being moved over the next few days, a U.S. official who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity said Friday. The plans are part of the White House’s efforts to reduce the population at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba. Several more transfers are expected for early 2015, CNN reported.President Obama alluded to the transfers during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, saying, “I’m going to be doing everything I can to close it.”
Sixty-four of the remaining 132 detainees have been deemed eligible for transfer, CNN reported. Once a detainee is no longer considered a risk, they are either transferred back to their home country or a third country that is willing to take them. Fifty-four of the 64 eligible detainees are from Yemen, but the U.S. is not willing to send them back to Yemen due to concerns that the government will not be able to prevent them from joining al Qaeda. Another 20 detainees from Yemen are still considered too dangerous to move, as well as several detainees accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, CNN reported. Nearly 800 detainees were held at Guantanamo under the George W. Bush administration, which claimed that since they weren’t being held on American soil, detainees could be considered “enemy combatants” and be denied some legal protections. Almost all of the detainees were held without charges. President Obama pledged to shut down the facility as part of his 2008 campaign, but was heavily opposed by Congress. Posted by: Steve White 2014-12-28 |
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