Guantanamo Bay prisoner transfers renew hopes for facility closure after over two decades

This week's transfer of 11 Guantanamo Bay detainees has renewed hope and urgency for the facility's closure after nearly 23 years of operation.
2 min read
Washington, DC
09 January, 2025
The latest transfer, the biggest since Biden came to office four years ago, has brought the total Guantanamo prion's inmate population to 15, the lowest number since it was opened in 2002. [Getty]

Following this week's transfer of 11 Yemeni inmates from the US military detention centre near Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, Joe Biden's administration is seeing renewed pressure to close the facility, which has held hundreds of men over the last two decades, most of them without charges.

The latest transfer, the biggest since Biden came to office four years ago, has brought the total Guantanamo prion's inmate population to 15, the lowest number since it was opened in 2002. This potentially gives the US administration the opportunity to transfer the remainder of inmates, some of whom are in fragile health following two decades of harsh conditions as they approach advanced ages.

"Guantanamo is a due process-free zone on America's judicial and moral reputation. Over the years, hundreds of men have been held at this military detention facility without charges or trial," Robert McCaw, director of government affairs with the Council for American-Islamic Relations, told The New Arab.

"For anyone deserving of criminal charges, they should have been filed a long time ago," he said. 

"Guantanamo needs to be closed, whether it's under [incoming president Donald] Trump or Biden, but it should have never been opened in the first place. The US government needs to make a final decision on whether they should charge those individuals," he said.

The Guantanamo detention facility has long been controversial, ever since it was opened as part of the US post-9/11 war on terrorism. In addition to the inmates' lack of charges in an area where the US Constitution didn't apply, there have been allegations of torture in inhumane conditions.

Since the opening of the Guantanamo detention facility, human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have advocated for the inmates to be released or charged.

Now that the facility's population has reached 15 down from a peak of around 800 during George w. Bush's presidency, efforts to close it are not generally seen as controversial, given the growing consensus over the years that it has not been effective in combatting terrorism. 

"Any prisoner held at Guantanamo could have been held at a federal detention facility," said McCaw. "This has only delayed or denied justice for far too many."