President Joe Biden’s administration has transferred its first prison from the US military base at Guantanamo: a Moroccan who has been repatriated, the Pentagon announced on Monday (July 19). A way for the tenant in the White House to take over Barack Obama’s unfinished work.
“The Ministry of Defense announced today [lundi 19 juillet] the transfer of Abdellatif Nacer from the Guantanamo detention center to the Kingdom of Morocco, “the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that 39 people were still being held at Guantanamo.
The release of Abdellatif Nacer, never charged, was recommended by the Obama administration in 2016, “subject to guarantees of security and humane treatment,” according to the Pentagon. But he remained imprisoned under the president of his successor, Donald Trump.
Barack Obama had ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay in January 2009, when he came to power, with the idea of having prisoners prosecuted by civilian courts. But the decision, very unpopular, had been blocked in Congress.
The former Democratic president then preferred to discreetly release hundreds of prisoners whose release had been approved by the Presidency’s Audit Committee (PRB). These editions were discontinued under Donald Trump.
Well “committed” to shutting down Guantanamo
Former Vice President Barack Obama, Joe Biden “remains committed” to closing Guantanamo, his spokesman Jen Psaki assured in April. The Biden administration “undertakes to follow a thoughtful and careful process to reduce the number of Guantanamo detainees responsible while ensuring the security of the United States and its allies,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday.
The Guantanamo Bay prison was opened in 2002, on US territory in Cuba, to detain al-Qaeda members and alleged accomplices of the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks. , human rights violations and torture.
It has counted as many as 780 “prisoners of war”, most of whom were imprisoned despite fragile evidence of their involvement. Many were tortured in secret CIA locations before being transferred to Guantanamo. Only ten of them have been charged.
►Listen: Amnesty International, Guantanamo: “If there is no fair trial, there is no truth for the victims”
(With agencies)
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