Timeline of the release and transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees
In late 2008, the Department of Defense published a list of the Guantanamo captives who died in custody, were freed, or were repatriated to the custody of another country.[1]
The list was drafted on October 8, 2008, and was published on November 26, 2008.
Subsequently almost two hundred more captives have been released or transferred, and several more have died in custody.
Consolidated list of October 2008
Consolidated chronological listing of GTMO detainees released, transferred or deceased[1]
Four Uyghur captives in Guantanamo were transferred to Bermuda in June 2009. The move was called controversial first because the United Kingdom still has jurisdiction over Bermuda's foreign affairs, and UK legal scholars argued the government of Bermuda did not have the authority to accept the men. Secondly the Prime Minister of Bermuda said the men would be offered citizenship—a right denied to other long term residents not born in Bermuda.
On May 4, 2010, Bulgaria accepted Maasoum Abdah Mouhammad, a Syrian.[45] Initially his identity was withheld. Local journalists were able to determine his name.
France has accepted two former captives originally from Algeria, who had become Bosnian citizens. US District Court JudgeRicardo Urbina had ruled the men should be released, in November 2008, because there was no credible evidence to support the allegations that had initially lead to their detention.
Murat Kurnaz was born in Germany, to Turkish guest workers in Germany, and was applying for German citizenship, when he was captured during a brief visit to Pakistan. He was transferred to Germany on August 24, 2006.[123]
Ireland accepted two former Uzbekistani captives in Guantanamo. The Irish government had requested the press respect the privacy of them men, and not publish their names, but their names were published anyhow.
Italy has accepted the transfer of three Tunisian captives in Guantanamo. According to press reports, the three Tunisians were former residents of Italy. According to press reports, unlike the other countries which have accepted former Guantanamo captives who weren't citizens, Italy plans to prosecute at least two of the men.
On February 2, 2010, Latvian Foreign Ministry officials announced that Latvia would be accepting a Guantanamo captive within the next six months.[126] Latvian authorities did not reveal his identity, or which nation he was from, but they did reveal he was from another nation that had been part of the Soviet Union.
Six Uyghur captives in Guantanamo were transferred to Palau in October 2009. The move was called controversial because Palau is a former protectorate of the US, which still received much of its annual budget in the form of grants from the US.
Slovakia accepted three former captives on January 26, 2010.[128] Their names were withheld. Tunisian Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami was later confirmed to be one of those individuals.[35]
Slovakia took in three more Uyghur detainees on December 31, 2013[129]
Nine Guantanamo captives had been long term legal residents of the United Kingdom. Initially the United Kingdom had only been prepared to request the return of another nine captives who were citizens of the United Kingdom. But when the public learned that Bisher al Rawi and Jamil el Banna, had been kidnapped in Gambia by the CIA only for their intelligence value—because they knew someone suspected of supporting terrorism, without supporting terrorism themselves, the UK requested the return of all the long term residents of the UK as well. Bisher al Rawi was repatriated first, followed by Jamil el Banna and five other men. Binyam Mohammed was repatriated a few days before a UK court was expected to force the UK government to publish classified memos to aid in him in his fight for return. Shaker Aamer became the final British resident to leave the detention camp in October 2015.[77]
^Mohamed Jawad faced charges before a Guantanamo military commission when his habeas determined he should be released due to the evidence against him being unreliable due to his torture.
^Carol Rosenberg (2009-10-09). "Guantánamo detainees sent to Kuwait, Belgium". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-09-16. 'The new facility will provide detainees with access to education, medical care, group discussions and physical exercise to help them recover from their long ordeal in Guantánamo,' said a statement issued by a Kuwaiti support group that announced Mutairi's repatriation.
^ abcAndy Worthington (2010-02-04). "Swiss Take Two Guantánamo Uighurs, Save Obama from Having to Do the Right Thing". Archived from the original on 2010-10-13. Retrieved 2016-10-07. Not mentioned publicly was the fact that, until Jura accepted the men's asylum claims, one of them, Arkin Mahmud, appeared to stuck at Guantánamo, his only way out being to hope that the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the Uighurs' case last year, would overturn last February's appeals court ruling, and allow cleared prisoners who cannot be repatriated into the United States.
^ ab"Ex-Guantanamo detainees thank Jura". World Radio Switzerland. 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2011-09-10. Retrieved 2016-10-07. They say that six months after their arrival in Switzerland, they are gradually acclimating to their new lives, but that the trauma of their experiences is still present.
^ ab"Uighur brothers in jura six months later". World Radio Switzerland. 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-07. Switzerland granted Arkin and Bahtiyar Mahmud asylum on humanitarian grounds. The brothers now live in canton Jura and, a short while ago, met the media for the first time.
^"Uighurs adjusting to new life in Switzerland". SwissInfo. 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2016-10-07. The two Uighurs arrived in canton Jura on March 23 with one living in the town of Delémont and the other in Courroux. They were admitted to Switzerland on humanitarian grounds.
^Carol Rosenberg (2010-07-13). "US sends Guantánamo captive home to Yemen". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-07. The Pentagon Tuesday bowed to a federal court order and sent a captive home to Yemen -- the first transfer since the Obama administration halted detainee repatriations to the Arabian Peninsula nation over the botched Christmas Day bombing.
^ ab
Hillary Stemple (2010-07-20). "US transfers 2 Guantanamo detainees to Cape Verde, Algeria". The Jurist. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2016-10-07. The US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] announced [press release] Monday that two more detainees have been released from the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detention facility. Abd-al-Nisr Mohammed Khantumani was released to Cape Verde, while Abdul Aziz Naji was repatriated to his native Algeria
^
Peter Finn (2010-07-20). "Guantanamo detainee Naji sent back to Algeria against his will". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-09-20. The Obama administration has for the first time sent a detainee at Guantanamo Bay back home against his will. Aziz Abdul Naji, 35, an Algerian who had been held at Guantanamo for more than eight years, had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to remain at the military detention center in Cuba. He argued that he would be tortured or killed in Algeria, either by the government or by terrorist groups that might try to recruit him.
^ abAndy Worthington (2010-07-31). "Who Are the Guantánamo Prisoners Released in Cape Verde, Latvia and Spain?". Archived from the original on 2013-04-19. Retrieved 2016-10-06. Given that, at the start of the year, just two Uzbeks remained at Guantánamo, and that one of these men, Ali Sher Hamidullah, was reportedly the Uzbek rehoused in Switzerland on January 26, it seems likely that the man given a new home in Latvia is Kamalludin Kasimbekov, who was cleared for release in 2006 by a military review board under the Bush administration, but who continued to be held because of well-founded fears that he would be tortured if returned to his homeland.
^ abc"Two Former Inmates Arrive in Germany". Der Spiegel. 2010-09-16. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2016-10-07. A spokesman for the Hamburg government confirmed that Ahmed Mohammed al-Shurfa, a stateless man of Palestinian descent born in Saudi Arabia, had arrived in the northern German port city.
^ abAndy Worthington (2013-06-01). "EXCLUSIVE: Two Guantánamo Prisoners Released in Mauritania". Retrieved 2013-06-01. In news that has so far only been available in Arabic, and which I was informed about by a Mauritanian friend on Facebook, I can confirm that two prisoners from Guantánamo have been released, and returned to their home country of Mauritania.
^ ab"Guantanamo'daki 2 Moritanyalı Serbest Bırakıldı: Guantanamo'da 10 yıldır tutuklu bulunan 2 Moritanya vatandaşı, ülkelerine gönderildi" [2 Mauritanian citizen detained in Guantanamo for 10 years, was sent to the countries.] (in Turkish). Sondakika. 2013-06-01. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-06-01. Baza americana din Guantanamo Bay de peste 10 ani de închisoare și a fost eliberat două țări au fost livrate la cetățenii din Mauritania spus. Conform informațiilor de la rudele de două Moritanyalının lansat, forțele de securitate americane, Makhdoom Ould Ahmed Ould Salahi și Abdulaziz'i, autoritățile Novakșot din Mauritania predat la aeroport. Familiile au spus că se întâlnesc la petreceri.
^ ab
Hana Abdul Hai (2013-12-15). "Last Two Detained Sudanese in Guantanamo to Arrive in Khartoum Wednesday". Sudan Vision Daily. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2016-10-07. Foreign Minister Spokesperson, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq said in press statements that the Sudanese detainees Mohammed Nour Osman and Ibrahim Osman Ibrahim who are the last Sudanese prisoners in Guantanamo Bay will be transported to Khartoum by an American Military Aircraft.
^ abc"U.S. sends three minority Chinese detainees to Slovakia". Reuters. 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2016-09-27. The United States is sending the three remaining ethnic Uighur Chinese inmates at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Slovakia, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in the latest of a flow of transfers aimed at eventually shutting the controversial prison.
^"Detainee Transfer Announced". Department of Defense. 2014-11-22. Archived from the original on 2014-11-23. The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Muhammed Murdi Issa Al-Zahrani from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
^ abcdefgAndy Worthington (2014-12-08). "Who Are the Six Men Freed from Guantánamo and Given New Homes in Uruguay?". Retrieved 2014-12-08. Back in March, President José Mujica of Uruguay — a former political prisoner — announced that he had been approached by the Obama administration regarding the resettlement of Guantánamo prisoners and had offered new homes to a number of men, cleared for release from the prison in 2009 by President Obama's high-level Guantánamo Review Task Force, who could not be safely repatriated.
^ abcdefg"Detainee Transfer Announced". United States Department of Defense. 2014-12-07. Archived from the original on 2014-12-07. Retrieved 2014-12-09. The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Ali Hussain Shaabaan, Omar Mahmoud Faraj, Abdul Bin Mohammed Abis Ourgy, Mohammed Tahanmatan, and Jihad Diyab from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Uruguay.
^ abcd
Helene Cooper (2014-12-20). "Four Afghans Released From Guantánamo Bay". New York Times. p. A27. Retrieved 2014-12-22. The four men are not likely to be subjected to further detainment in Afghanistan, an Obama administration official said. The transfer brings the number of Afghans still held at the American military prison in Cuba to eight of the 132 detainees over all.
^ abcdefAndy Worthington (2015-01-05). "Who Are the Five Guantánamo Prisoners Given New Homes in Kazakhstan?". Retrieved 2015-01-05. As the New York Times described it, "Officials declined to disclose the security assurances reached between the United States and Kazakhstan," but a senior Obama administration official stated that the five "are 'free men' for all intents and purposes after the transfer."
^ abcdefghijkCharlie Savage (2016-01-14). "Guantánamo Population Drops to 93 after 10 Prisoners Go to Oman". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-01-14. Oman, which shares a border with Yemen, also took in 10 lower-level detainees in 2015. Its acceptance of 20 men over the past 13 months has significantly aided the Obama administration's goal of repatriating or resettling all the men who have been recommended for transfer, most of whom have been languishing with that status since at least 2009 when a six-agency task force unanimously approved letting them go.
^ abcdefghij"US sends nine Yemeni Guantanamo inmates to Saudi Arabia". Al Jazeera. 2016-04-16. Retrieved 2016-04-17. The United States has transferred nine Yemeni men to Saudi Arabia from the US military prison at Guantanamo, including an inmate who had been on a hunger strike since 2007, US officials said.
^"'Guantanamo Diary' author released to Mauritania". Reuters. 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2016-10-17. His departure reduced to 60 the number of prisoners held at the facility set up to hold terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Nineteen of them have been cleared for release.
^ abcdefghijkCarol Rosenberg (2017-01-16). "U.S. sends 10 Guantánamo captives to Oman". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2017-01-17. A Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the transfer had taken place, downsizing the detainee population to 45. Neither Oman nor the official provided the identities of the 10 men who were sent there.
^"Detainee Transfers Announced". US Department of Defense. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-01-20. The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Jabran al Qahtani from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
^ abcd"Detainee Transfers Announced". US Department of Defense. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-01-20. The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of three detainees: Ravil Mingazov, Haji Wali Muhammed, and Yassim Qasim Mohammed Ismail Qasim from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the government of the United Arab Emirates.
^ ab"Guantanamo four arrive in Europe". BBC News. 2010-02-24. Retrieved 2010-02-24. A Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan were sent to Albania, while a Palestinian was sent to Spain. The Palestinian is the first of five inmates that Spain has agreed to take. Albania has taken eight detainees.
^"Yemeni Guantánamo Bay inmate transferred to Italy, US says". The Guardian. 2016-07-10. Archived from the original on 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2016-07-11. The United States said on Sunday it had transferred a Yemeni inmate from the Guantánamo Bay prison to Italy, bringing the number of detainees at the US naval base in Cuba to 78.