US repatriates Afghan Guantanamo Bay prisoner held without charge or trial for 15 years
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US on Friday repatriated a Guantanamo Bay prisoner to Afghanistan after a federal court ruled the US “no longer has a legal basis to detain him.”
The Pentagon announced the transfer of Asadullah Haroon al-Afghani from Guantanamo Bay prison after the US District Court of Columbia’s ruling that there was no longer any legal basis to justify his continued detention.
Al-Afghani, also known as ‘Gul’, was not charged with any war crimes and held for 15 years without a trial.
“Previously, on October 7, 2021, the Periodic Review Board (PRB), a body comprised of senior career officials from the Departments of Defense, State, Justice, and Homeland Security; and the offices of the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; determined Mr. Gul to be eligible for transfer,” said Pentagon in a statement.
“The United States thanks the Government of Qatar for its assistance in this matter,” it added.
The infamous detention facility opened under former President George W. Bush in January 2002 after the 9/11 terror attacks in order to detain ‘enemy combatants’ whose rights could not be protected by the Geneva Conventions. Several reports of torture in the detention camp have kept surfacing from time to time. Despite promises by former president Obama to close down the notorious facility, it continues to hold as many as 36 detainees.
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