WASHINGTON – In another step toward shutting down of world’s most controversial Prison detention center for terror suspects, 10 of the 39 remaining prisoners are approved to be transferred out.
Reports in media quoting US officials said the oldest prisoner at the notorious Guantanamo Bay jail Saifullah Paracha, a Pakistani businessman, is likely included in the updated list as he has been detained for 16 years without being charged with a crime.
In May, the US okayed the release of 73-year-old Paracha who was detained in Bangkok in July 2003 for having ‘contacts with Al Qaeda’. The oldest prisoner in the most isolated prison was cleared by a US prisoners review board along with two other men.
A senior administration official while speaking with newsmen in the country’s capital said “Of the 39 detainees remaining at Guantánamo, 10 are eligible to be transferred out, 17 are eligible to go through the review process for possible transfer while another 10 are involved in the military commission process used to prosecute detainees and two have been convicted.”
On Monday, the Biden administration transferred one of the Moroccan detainees Abdullatif Nasser, who is in his mid-50s, to his home country for the first time.
The transfer of Nasser was the first by the incumbent administration to revive an Obama administration effort that had been foiled by the conservative opposition and the difficulty of resolving the remaining few dozen cases.
US approves release of Pakistani prisoner from Guantanamo Bay
Over the years, human rights activists have called the detentions camp a historic wrong move of the US besides allegations of torture in early questioning, and challenges to the lawfulness of military tribunals there.
However, the US administration called the camp ‘a need of the hour’ to safely managing international ‘terror suspects’.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also commented about the development said the administration was considering all available options for safely transferring out the last detainees and shutting down Guantanamo.
