Guantanamo Bay population hits historic low after transfer of 11 detainees

The population at Guantanamo Bay prison has been significantly reduced after 11 detainees were transferred to Oman, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). The move is part of a broader goal to close the facility.

The DoD announced on Monday that 11 Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay had been transferred to the Government of Oman, following determinations that the detainees were eligible for transfer.

The 11 detainees are: 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.

Two of the detainees, al-Alwi and al-Sharabi, were alleged al-Qaeda fighters and bodyguards for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, according to the New York Post.

Following the transfer, the prison population at Guantanamo Bay has been reduced to 15, according to the DoD statement, the lowest since the facility’s inception in 2002. At least six more detainees are eligible for transfer or review.

The statement described the transfers as part of “ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility.”

Established in 2002 during President George W. Bush’s administration, Guantanamo Bay in the Cuban island was designed to detain terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks. At its peak in 2003, the facility held approximately 680 prisoners. Over the years, it has faced widespread criticism for human rights violations and the indefinite detention of individuals without formal charges.

Efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility have been ongoing for more than a decade. The initiative began in 2009 when President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the prison within a year. However, the process faced numerous challenges, including congressional restrictions on transferring detainees to the United States and difficulties in resettling detainees in other countries.

President Joe Biden revived these efforts upon taking office in 2021. His administration launched a formal review of Guantanamo’s operations and began working to reduce its detainee population. In July 2021, the administration transferred Abdul Latif Nasser, a detainee cleared for release, to Morocco—marking the first transfer in years.