Guantanamo Review Task Force

07.09.2014

The Guantanamo Review Task Force was created by Executive Order 13492 issued by President of the United States Barack Obama on January 22, 2009, his second full day in office. United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced Matthew G. Olsen as Executive Director of the task force on February 20, 2009. The task force was charged with determining which Guantánamo detainees can be transferred (released), which can be prosecuted for crimes they may have committed, and, if neither of those is possible, recommending other lawful means for disposition of the detainees.

Eric Holder and Matthew G. Olsen

The task force was an inter-agency task force, with the U.S. Department of Justice coordinating the efforts of officials from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security. The final report was issued January 22, 2010, but not publicly released until May 28, 2010. The Washington Post reported that the "administration sat on the report in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day because there was little public or congressional appetite for further discussion of its plan to close the military detention center."

Of the 240 detainees considered, the report recommended that 126 detainees should be transferred to their home country or to another country that was willing to accept them, 36 be prosecuted in either federal court or a military commission, 48 be held indefinitely under the laws of war and 30 Yemenis should be approved for transfer if security conditions in Yemen improved. As of May 2014, 149 detainees remain at Guantanamo. Congressional Representative Frank Wolf criticized the task force claiming it was subjected to political interference from the White House. On September 21, 2012, the United States Department of Justice published a list of the names of 55 Guantanamo captives who had been cleared for release. Danica Coto of the Associated Press reported that the publication of the names surprised human rights workers who had been seeking this information through Freedom of Information Act requests

Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that State Department officials had confirmed a 56 man's name had been left off the list, even though he too had been cleared for release, because his name was under seal. She reported that now that the captives's names have been published, the secrecy agreement their lawyers signed would no longer prevent them from contacting third countries to seek asylum themselves. Fausto Biloslavo, writing in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale told his readers about six Guantanamo captives, who had lived in Italy, and might be transferred to Italy. Those six men were Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammad Al-Yafi, Adel Bin Ahmed Bin Ibrahim Hkiml, Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi, Yunis Abdurrahman Shokuri, Abdul Bin Mohammed Bin Abess Ourgy, and Bensayah Belkacem.

Current Guantanamo Bay Detainee-Petitioners Approved For Transfer (Sept. 21, 2012) - ISN Detainee’s Name Civil