US transfers 11 Yemeni Guantanamo detainees to Oman

The United States has sent 11 Yemeni detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Oman, the Pentagon said, in a resettlement that reduces the prisoner population to just 15 people.

The Pentagon said in a press release on Monday that one of the detainees went through a different review process from the other ten, but all were deemed eligible for transfer.

The 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.

"On September 15, 2023, Secretary of Defense Austin notified Congress of his intent to repatriate these 11 Yemeni detainees to the Government of Oman and, in consultation with our partners in Oman, we completed the requirements for transfer," the Pentagon said in its press release.

"The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing US efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility."

The move reduced the population to 15 detainees who remain at Guantanamo Bay, 3 are eligible for transfer; 3 are eligible for a Periodic Review Board; 7 are involved in the military commissions process; and two detainees have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions.

Notorious prison

Human rights experts, including at the United Nations, have condemned torture at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere during the so-called war on terror and demanded an apology from Washington.

Former president Barack Obama acknowledged in 2014 that the US had engaged in torture and said it was "contrary to our values."

At peak, Guantanamo detained hundreds of men, most Muslim, after the September 11 attacks.

Guantanamo became a symbol of US abuses and the centre of worldwide controversy over the violations of detainees' rights.