Pentagon Frees Guantanamo Detainees According to Nationality by Adam Deutsch

For two years running, the students and research fellows at Seton Hall Law’s Center for Policy and Research have been analyzing government documents pertaining to the detainees and operations of the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay Cuba. The most recent report from the Center concludes that the United States Department of Defense has routinely released detainees without regard to their dangerousness or ability to provide information. Going against common sense, it appears the only correlating fact to one’s being released from Guantanamo Bay is their nationality.

Department of Defense documents show that prior to the end of 2006, 354 of the 773 prisoners ever detained at Guantanamo Bay were released from the base. The 773 represent 44 nationalities, however 60% are from Afghanistan, Algeria, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Of these six countries Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia represent 71% of all detainees released from Guantanamo. Pakistani detainees were released at an alarming rate of 92%, while fewer than 9% of detainees from Yemen and Algeria have been released. Nearly one half of the Pakistani detainees released are alleged to have participated in hostile acts against the United States or its allies. Military documents show that more than 70% of the detainees released were associates, members, or fighters for Al Qaeda, the Taliban or both.

Detainees released from Guantanamo Bay were either released to freedom, transferred to a foreign government, transferred for further detainment, transferred for prosecution, or undetermined. Detainees from Afghanistan represent the largest presence at Guantanamo Bay as well as the largest group of released detainees. Afghani’s were also released to freedom more often than any other nationality. The effect of Afghani detainees being released to absolute freedom has been noted elsewhere by the Department of Defense. As of June 13, 2008, six of the eight former Guantanamo detainees alleged to have returned to the battlefield were from Afghanistan.

Information made available by the Department of Defense is alarming for too many reasons. The Center for Policy and Research operates on the assumption that all information within the government documents is factual, and that protocol is followed. The latest study reveals that in releasing the majority of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, the Government has ignored, disbelieved, or established findings in an arbitrary non-factual basis that detainees were members, fighters, or associates of terrorist organizations. The study makes clear that the “worst of the worst” have been slipping through the cracks and gaining release, while those merely swept up in the fog of war remain captive based on the geopolitical map rather than their actions.

“Profile of Released Guantanamo Detainees: The Government’s Story Then and Now” and all previously published reports by the Center for Policy and Research can be read at http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_reports.htm

© Copyright 2008 by Adam Deutsch, reprinted with author's permission. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home