Gitmo Detainee Release: Second in Last Few Months to be Released After 20 Years

Looks happy for very good reason

Another Gitmo detainee released after 20 years in detention – that full story here from The AP with this headline:

“U.S. sends home Algerian held 20 years at Guantanamo”

An Algerian man imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for nearly 20 years has been released and sent back to his homeland.

Sufyian Barhoumi (age 48) was captured in Pakistan and taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002.

The United States eventually determined he was involved with various extremist groups but was not a member of al-Qaeda or the Taliban, according to a report by a review board at the prison that approved him for release in 2016.

Barhoumi, who lost four fingers in a land mine explosion in Afghanistan, had offered to plead guilty to any charges in 2012 in hopes he could receive a fixed sentence and return to his elderly mother, according to his attorney, Shayana Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights

Kadidal went on to say: “Our government owes Sufyian and his mother years of their lives back. I’m overjoyed that he will be home with his family, but I will dearly miss his constant good humor and empathy for the suffering of others in the utterly depressing environment of Guantánamo.”

DOD announced that Barhoumi was repatriated with assurances from the Algerian government that he would be treated humanely there and that security measures would be imposed to reduce the risk that he could pose a threat in the future.

The Pentagon did not provide details about those security measures, which could include restrictions on travel.

U.S. authorities attempted to prosecute Barhoumi in 2008 but the effort was dropped amid legal challenges to the initial version of the military commission system set up under then President George W. Bush.

In the final days of Barack Obama's presidency in January 2017, a federal judge in Washington declined to intervene in the Pentagon's decision not to repatriate Barhoumi, whose lawyer said he had expected his client to be released and that the prisoner’s family had begun making preparations for his return, including by buying him a car and a small restaurant for him to run.

The DOJ under then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter rejected the release of Barhoumi on January 12, 2017, “Based on a variety of substantive concerns shared by multiple agencies,” but they offered no further details.

The effort to resettle prisoners also languished under Trump’s administration. 

The Biden administration is attempting again to reduce the number of men held at Guantanamo as part of a broader effort to close the facility.

His release brings the total held at the U.S. base in Cuba to 37 men, including 18 who have been deemed eligible for repatriation or resettlement in a third country.

My 2 Cents: Sounds like a good decision to me… 

Now, DOJ and DOD must move to release those 18 have been cleared for release and then swiftly more on trials as needed for the others - the hardcore ones. 

Then let’s close Gitmo until further notice.

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