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center for constitutional rights
'Finally!' 11 Men Transferred to Oman From Guantánamo, But 15 Remain
The president faces calls to "end the abhorrent U.S. practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo by transferring the remaining detainees who have never been charged with crimes."
Jan 06, 2025
Human rights advocates on Monday praised the Biden administration's transfer of 11 Yemeni men from the United States' Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba to Oman for resettlement—which left just 15 detainees at the facility that opened nearly 23 years ago, during the early days of the so-called War on Terror, and is notorious for torture.
"We welcome the transfer of these 11 men to Oman by the Biden administration, as it was long overdue," said Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, in a statement. "The U.S. government now has an obligation to ensure that the government of Oman will respect and protect their human rights."
Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has failed to deliver on his promise to shutter the prison—like former President Barack Obama, who had Biden as his vice president. Between the Democrats, Republican former President Donald Trump, who wants to keep the facility open, served a term; he is set to return to the White House in two weeks.
Eviatar said that "we commend President Biden for taking this step before he leaves office and urge him to finally end the abhorrent U.S. practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo by transferring the remaining detainees who have never been charged with crimes. This would be a tremendous achievement of his presidency."
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)—which represents 51-year-old Sharqawi Al Hajj, one of the men flown to Oman—also welcomed the progress on Monday but called on the president to go even further while he remains in power.
"It is remarkable that the prison population at Guantánamo is down to 15 people," said CCR senior staff attorney Pardiss Kebriaei. "We urge the administration to press forward in transferring the remaining uncharged men, including Center for Constitutional Rights client Guleed Hassan Duran, allow resolution of the remaining charged cases through mutually acceptable pleas, and stand down in opposing habeas cases for anyone who is uncharged but will be left at Guantánamo."
Kebriaei represents Al Hajj, who "endured physical and psychological coercion" at Central Intelligence Agency sites before arriving at Guantánamo, where "he waged prolonged hunger strikes to protest his indefinite detention," and "attempted to hurt himself multiple times in moments of desperation," according to CCR. He was never charged with a crime.
"Our thoughts are with Mr. Al Hajj as he transitions to the free world after almost 23 years in captivity. His release is hopeful for him and for us," said Kebriaei. "We are grateful to Oman and to the individuals in the administration who made this transfer happen, and to the many people over the years whose work and advocacy paved the way for this moment."
The Pentagon said that the other 10 men 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, and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.
The Pentagon also noted in its Monday statement that of the 15 remaining detainees, "three are eligible for transfer; three are eligible for a periodic review board; seven are involved in the military commissions process; and two detainees have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions."
As NPRreported:
Monday's transfers were originally scheduled to happen in October 2023, but were halted at the last minute due to concerns in Congress about instability in the Middle East following the Hamas attack on Israel.
That the plan was resurrected during President Biden's final two weeks in office signals a last-ditch effort by his administration to shrink Guantánamo's prisoner population and get closer to his goal of trying to close the facility. In recent weeks, the U.S. has transferred four other Guantánamo inmates—a Kenyan, a Tunisian, and two Malaysians—and is preparing for the transfer of at least one more, an Iraqi.
The repatriation of the Tunisian man, 59-year-old Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi, last week came on the same day that a Pentagon appeals panel upheld plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who were imprisoned at Guantánamo after allegedly plotting the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and agreed to spend the rest of their lives in prison to avoid execution.
Despite the Biden administration's progress, global vigils planned for Saturday "will, of course, be proceeding as planned, because 15 men are still held," according to journalist and Close Guantánamo co-founder Andy Worthington.
"This coming week—which includes the 23rd anniversary of the prison's opening, on Saturday, January 11—is a crucial time for highlighting the need for urgent action from the Biden administration," Worthington said, "in the last few weeks before Donald Trump once more occupies the White House, bringing with him, no doubt, a profound antipathy towards any of the men still held, and a hunger for sealing the prison shut as he did during his first term in office."
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After Plea Deals Revived, Biden Urged to Transfer Uncharged Men at Guantánamo
Rights advocates want the president to fulfill his "long-standing commitment to turn the page on the 9/11 era by closing this shameful site of torture and indefinite detention."
Nov 07, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday faced pressure from legal groups to accept a military judge's revival of plea deals for three alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and to transfer 19 uncharged men out of the American prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, the convening authority for the legally dubious Guantánamo Bay military commissions, this summer reached the controversial deals under which Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi agreed to spend the rest of their lives in prison to avoid execution.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin swiftly withdrew the agreements, sparking criticism from some victims' families and legal experts. In a 29-page ruling on Wednesday, the judge, Col. Matthew N. McCall, wrote that the Pentagon chief "did not have the authority to do what he did." Thus, the pretrial agreements "remain valid and are enforceable," he wrote, and plea hearings should be scheduled.
It is not yet clear how the Pentagon will proceed, as its press secretary, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, only toldThe New York Times that "we are reviewing the decision and don't have anything further at this time." However, legal organizations want the Biden administration to embrace the ruling.
ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero, whose group represents Mohammed, said in a Thursday statement that "McCall rightly recognizes that Defense Secretary Austin stepped out of bounds" and "we are finally back at the only practical solution after nearly two decades of litigation."
"The government's decision to settle for life imprisonment instead of seeking the death penalty in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was always the right call," Romero continued. "For too long, the U.S. has repeatedly defended its use of torture and unconstitutional military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay. As a nation, we must move forward with the plea process and sentencing hearing that is intended to give victim family members answers to their questions. They deserve transparency and finality about the events that claimed their loved ones."
"This plea agreement further underscores the fact that the death penalty is out of step with the fundamental values of our democratic system. It is inhumane, inequitable, and unjust," he added. "We also urge the U.S. government to quickly relocate the men cleared for transfer, and finally end all indefinite detentions and unfair trials at Guantánamo."
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)—which represents two of the 19 uncharged men at the facility infamous for torture—also put out a Thursday statement pressuring the administration to accept the judge's decision and focus on transfers.
"The Biden administration should not appeal this ruling because, after more than 20 years of litigation and uncertainty for victims' families, plea deals are the only responsible way to resolve the 9/11 case," CCR argued. "The president must instead use this opportunity to transfer the remaining 19 uncharged men out of Guantánamo, 16 of whom have been approved for transfer by all relevant agencies based on a unanimous determination that they pose no security threat, including our clients Guled Hassan Duran and Sharqawi al Hajj."
"These two steps are essential to fulfilling Biden's long-standing commitment to turn the page on the 9/11 era by closing this shameful site of torture and indefinite detention," the group added.
Biden's time to make any decisions regarding Guantánamo and the men imprisoned there is dwindling. After beating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump is set to return to the White House in January, shortly after what would be the 23rd anniversary of Guantánamo's opening.
The U.S. prison was launched in January 2002 under then-President George W. Bush, who responded to the 9/11 attacks with a so-called global War on Terror. Biden has so far failed to close Guantánamo, following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama. Trump, during his first term, took action to keep it open.
As Lawdrawgonreported:
The plea agreements for Mohammad and al-Hawsawi contained provisions that removed the death penalty from the case in the event the government withdrew from the agreements. Sources said that the penalty provision should render the case noncapital, even if Austin was found to have acted lawfully.
The penalty clause was negotiated in the event that a future Trump administration tried to kill the deals, individuals familiar with the negotiations said.
In anticipation of Trump's return to power early next year, Amnesty International is urging Biden to take "six actions before his legacy is sealed for the history books." The final item calls on the outgoing president to "transfer all detainees cleared for release or not charged with crimes to countries where their human rights will be respected, halting the unfair military commissions and fairly resolving the pending cases, and close the Guantánamo prison once and for all."
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Palestinians Seek US Appeals Court Review of Biden Genocide Complicity Case
"The U.S. is providing the bombs for this genocide," said one plaintiff. "I have lost countless friends and neighbors... When will the courts uphold the law and stop the horror?"
Aug 30, 2024
Six weeks after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed by Palestinians, Palestinian Americans, and rights groups accusing senior Biden administration officials of complicity in Israel's Gaza genocide, plaintiffs in the case on Thursday asked the full federal appellate court to revisit their suit.
The plaintiffs' petition—which was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the law firm Van Der Hout LLP—requests an en banc rehearing of their case, in which U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are defendants. To win such a rehearing, a case must involve a matter of "exceptional importance" or be inconsistent with previous court rulings.
"With unconditional U.S. support, Israel has killed about 40,000 Palestinians, injured more than 90,000, forcibly displaced 2 million, and pushed large segments of Gaza into famine," CCR said in a statement. "Israel's actions, which followed numerous expressions of eliminationist intent by its leaders, have led many legal experts and scholars to conclude that it is committing genocide, the most serious human rights crime."
"With unconditional U.S. support, Israel has killed about 40,000 Palestinians, injured more than 90,000, forcibly displaced 2 million, and pushed large segments of Gaza into famine."
Plaintiff Ayman Nijim said: "Just this week, my brother's apartment building in Gaza was completely destroyed—the second time he lost his home, after our family house was obliterated in 2009. The U.S. is providing the bombs for this genocide. I have lost countless friends and neighbors, so many that I couldn't know where to start to grieve. When will the courts uphold the law and stop the horror?"
The lawsuit—originally filed in November in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland—sought to stop the Biden administration from aiding Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Billions of dollars worth of U.S.-supplied weapons have played a critical role in Israel's war and have been used in some of the deadliest Israel Defense Forces massacres of Palestinians.
While the court found that "the current treatment of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military may plausibly constitute a genocide in violation of international law," it dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds in late January. The 9th Circuit subsequently granted an expedited appeal in the case, which was heard by the three-judge panel in June and dismissed the following month.
"For almost 11 months we have witnessed the intentional destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza made possible by these officials," CCR senior staff attorney Pam Spees said on Friday. "With this ruling, the panel has said our courts are too small to do the job they were assigned at the founding—to be a co-equal branch in our government and a check and balance on presidential power."
"If the 9th Circuit doesn't course-correct here, it will be giving this and future presidents license to violate the law at will in the realm of foreign relations," Spees added.
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