7.1.25
Wonderful news, as eleven Yemeni men, long approved for release from Guantánamo, have finally been freed and resettled in Oman. I’ve spent two years writing about and campaigning relentlessly for the release of these men, despite indifference from the mainstream media. I’d like to particularly congratulate Tina Kaidanow, appointed by President Biden to oversee resettlements from Guantánamo, for working so hard to free them, even after her efforts were cynically canceled in October 2023. Behind the scenes, however, she continued to press for their release, although sadly she died in October before seeing the results of all her work. With these releases, just 15 men are still held at Guantánamo, and, although it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on what freedom means for these eleven men, after over two decades of imprisonment without charge or trial, it’s also important that we continue to push for justice for the men still held — three others who have long been approved for release, another three “forever prisoners” who have never been charged, and nine men caught up in the military commission system, where justice remains elusive because of the use of torture, and plea deals are the only viable way to bring some sort of closure to the brutal and failed Guantánamo experiment.
14.11.24
With just two months to go until President Biden cedes power to Donald Trump, it’s crucial that pressure is exerted on the Biden administration to secure the release from Guantánamo of 16 men, never charged with a crime, who have long been approved for release — for between two and four years, and in three outlying cases for nearly 15 years. Urgent action is essential, because it is clear that Trump will seal Guantánamo shut, as he did in his first term in office. The scandal of these men’s ongoing imprisonment is that the decisions taken to approve them for release were made by high-level administrative processes, which have no legal weight, meaning that no mechanism exists to compel the government to actually free them if they find it inconvenient or to do so. An additional complication is that most of them are Yemenis, and US law prevents the return of prisoners to Yemen. However, over a year ago, a plan to resettle them in Oman was finalized, but was called off after the October 7 attacks in Israel. That plan urgently needs reviving, or, if that isn’t possible, another country needs to be found that will offer these men new homes. The alternative — another four years of entombment under Donald Trump — doesn’t even bear thinking about.
15.8.24
My detailed report about the disturbing news that the majority of the 28 former Guantánamo prisoners from Yemen, who were resettled in Oman between 2015 and 2017 because it was unsafe for them to be sent home, have been forcibly repatriated in recent weeks. To provide some necessary context, my article also includes an overview of the Obama administration’s resettlement program, in which, from 2009 to 2017, 125 former prisoners were resettled in 28 countries around the world, and I also discuss some glaring examples of countries that have failed to treat these men fairly or humanely, as supposedly required in the “diplomatic assurances” agreed with the US. The news from Oman is particularly dispiriting because the resettlement program there had been successful, with many of the men securing work, and marrying and having children. Oman has provided no explanation, and comments by US officials have been particularly troubling, with one State Department official stating that the US government had “never had an expectation that former Guantánamo detainees would indefinitely remain in receiving countries.” Another US official suggested that the Omanis were “making room” for a new arrival of former prisoners from Guantánamo, eleven men whose resettlement was supposed to take place last October, but was cancelled after the Hamas attacks on October 7. Both are alarming positions for the US government to take, as they blithely ignore the fact that, for the last 15 years, Congress has included provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Act specifically preventing the repatriation of any Yemenis from Guantánamo because of security concerns. The Omanis’ actions, with US support, also violate the fundamental principle, under international human rights law, of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of anyone to a country where they may face torture or other forms of abuse, which is a distinct possibility in divided and war-torn Yemen. Of particular concern, however, are the ramifications of the suggestion that resettlements were never meant to be permanent, which needs to be robustly challenged, because otherwise it will indicate to some of the other countries who resettled former prisoners between 2009 and 2017 that they too can get rid of these men if they find their continued presence inconvenient.
22.5.24
My unapologetic condemnation of the Biden administration for stopping the release from Guantánamo, in October, of eleven men who have long been approved for release. The men were supposed to be resettled in Oman, but the deal was pulled at the last minute, as a result of what NBC News, which broke the story, based on the accounts of four administration officials, called the “political optics after Hamas’ attack on Israel.” These men, all Yemenis, who were unanimously approved for release by high-level US government review processes between 607 and 1,301 days ago — and, in one case, 5,234 days ago — cannot even challenge the outrageous politicized decision to cancel their release, because the decisions taken to free them in the first place were purely administrative, meaning that they are completely outside the US legal system. With no ability to ask a judge to order their release, these men, held for the most part for over 20 years without charge or trial, have no idea if they will ever be freed, as that decision is dependant on the whims of two men in particular — President Biden and Antony Blinken — who wield absolutely power over their lives, just as George W. Bush did when he first opened Guantánamo over 22 years ago.
25.3.24
The ninth article in my ongoing series of ten articles about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. The articles are published alternately here and on the Close Guantánamo website, and this particular article focuses on the case of Sanad al-Kazimi, seized in the UAE in January 2003, and held in Emirati custody and CIA “black sites” until September 2004, when he was flown to Guantánamo, where he has been held ever since without charge or trial. He was finally approved for release in October 2021, after over 12 years of tortuously slow review processes that began under President Obama.
13.3.24
The seventh article in my ongoing series of ten articles about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. The articles are published alternately here and on the Close Guantánamo website, and this particular article highlights the case of Khaled Qassim, a Yemeni, and a talented artist, whose ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial was upheld for many years because of his “non-compliance” — his resistance to the injustice and brutality of Guantánamo, including through persistent hunger strikes — far more than anything he was alleged to have done before he was seized and taken to Guantánamo in the first place.
6.3.24
The fifth article in my ongoing series about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. The articles are published alternately here and on the Close Guantánamo website, and this particular article highlights three men approved for release in December 2021 — the talented artist Moath al-Alwi, and two victims of extraordinary rendition and torture: Zakaria al-Baidany and Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu.
28.2.24
The third article in my ongoing series about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. This particular article highlights the three especially unfortunate men who were approved for release over 14 years ago.
14.2.24
My report about “über Guantánamo hinaus”, the first exhibition of Guantánamo prisoners’ original artwork outside the US, currently taking place at Humboldt University of Berlin, and featuring artwork by one prisoner still held, Moath al-Alwi, and three former prisoners, Sabri al-Qurashi, Mohammed al-Ansi and Ghalib al-Bihani.
7.2.24
The first of a series of articles focusing on the 16 men still held at Guantánamo who have long been approved for release by high-level US government review processes. Published to coincide with significant dates in these men’s long wait for freedom, this first article focuses on Uthman Abd Al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, a Yemeni who was approved for release 1,000 days ago.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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