- Title: USA-GUANTANAMO/URUGUAY Six Guantanamo detainees fly to Uruguay for resettlement
- Date: 8th December 2014
- Summary: GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. MILITARY BASE, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA (NOVEMBER 7, 2011) (AGENCY POOL) RAZOR WIRE ON TOP OF FENCE AND U.S. FLAG IN BACKGROUND CAMP VI SIGN AND "HONOR BOUND TO DEFEND FREEDOM" WRITTEN ON SIGN EXTERIOR OF CAMP VI THROUGH BARBED WIRE U.S. FLAG FLYING BEHIND RAZOR WIRE AT CAMP
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Uruguay
- Country: Uruguay
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA25REWGEC8M796O2QNUZUUEU6T
- Story Text: EDIT CONTAINS VIDEO THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Six men held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were flown to Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday (December 7), the latest step in a slow-moving push by President Barack Obama's administration to close the facility.
The release of four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian, who arrived in South America aboard a U.S. military transport plane, represented the largest single group to leave the internationally condemned U.S. detention camp since 2009, U.S. officials said.
After arriving in Montevideo, the six men were taken to a hospital for medical examinations, officials said.
Uruguay President Jose 'Pepe' Mujica, who has called Guantanamo a "disgrace," reiterated in an interview aired on Friday that he had rejected a U.S. proposal to ban the detainees from traveling for two years after their release from Guantanamo.
"They are coming as refugees and the first day that they want to leave, they can leave," he said in an interview with state television that was posted on YouTube.
Guantanamo was opened by Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, to house terrorism suspects rounded up overseas. Most of the detainees have been held for a decade or more without being charged or tried.
"That isn't a prison. It's a kidnapping den, because a prison entails subjection to some system of law, the presence of some sort of prosecutor, the decision of some judge-- whomever that may be-- and a minimal point of reference from a judicial point of view. That (Guantanamo) has nothing," the outgoing president added.
Obama promised to shut the prison when he took office nearly six years ago, citing the damage it inflicted on America's image around the world. But he has been unable to do so, partly because of obstacles posed by the U.S. Congress.
"My entire life, I've criticized and I will continue to criticize the United States' acts of intervention, abuses, etcetera. Now, once they have a president who wants to undo the miserable injustice that they left there for him, to turn my back because of this would be cowardice when one thinks like this," Mujica added.
Mujica, a former leftist guerrilla who was jailed during a 1973-1985 military dictatorship, had urged Washington to free three imprisoned Cuban spies as a reciprocal gesture, but U.S. authorities said that was never part of the negotiations.
The latest transfer of prisoners to Uruguay had been delayed for months. A move initially planned earlier this year was apparently held up by the Defense Department.
Differences over the pace of such transfers, said one U.S. official, added to friction between U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Obama's inner circle that culminated in Hagel's resignation last month.
The release of the six was put off again in August when Uruguay became concerned about political risks in the run-up to its October presidential election. But outgoing President Jose Mujica then pressed ahead with the transfer.
On the streets of the capital city of Montevideo, student Agustin Carrero said he thought Mujica's decision was another feather in Mujica's cap.
"Really, I think it's fine. I think it's a decision that could have affected some political course regarding the election and I think it could be another point that Mujica needed," he said.
Uruguay's president-elect, the ruling party's Tabare Vazquez, who takes power on March 1, has said he also supports hosting the men as a humanitarian gesture. The Uruguayan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it would adhere to international rules on humanitarian protection.
Gladys Gutierrez, a 71-year-old retired Uruguayan woman, praised her government.
"Accepting them is a very positive attitude by President Mujica and the Uruguayan government because it's an act of solidarity," she said.
However, 47-year-old Uruguayan Antonio Garcia said the detainees were Washington's problem.
"The United States must take care of its prisoners because it was the United States that made the decision to put them on a base. So I don't know what the role is that Uruguay has to fulfil. There are secrete agreements and we will never know, like always."
A U.S. official said Uruguay agreed to "security arrangements" and that the six would be "free men." He declined to say whether they would be allowed to travel abroad.
Washington Delgado, a 63-year-old businessman, said the detainees were welcome to stay.
"Finally, they're here. As (President) Pepe said, if they want to leave tomorrow, they can leave tomorrow. I think it's fantastic and if they want to stay, they can stay and live here. I think it's fantastic. This is Uruguay, a marvelous country, the best country in the world," he said.
All six of the men released on Sunday were originally detained because of suspected links to al Qaeda but not charged. They were cleared for release long ago and are not regarded as security threats but U.S. authorities did not want to send them home, saying countries such as Syria, where a civil war is raging, were too risky.
Among the Syrians sent to Uruguay was Jihad Diyab, who recently mounted a legal challenge against the U.S. military's force-feeding of hunger strikers at Guantanamo. A lawyer for Diyab, Cori Crider, said on Sunday the case to release videotapes of the force-feeding would continue despite the transfer.
The Pentagon identified the other Syrians as Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Ali Hussain Shaabaan and Omar Mahmoud Faraj. Also released were a Tunisian, Abdul Bin Mohammed Abis Ourgy, and a Palestinian, Mohammed Tahanmatan.
Seven other prisoners have been transferred from Guantanamo since early November. With Sunday's release, the prisoner population has been whittled down to 136. More are expected to be repatriated or sent to countries other than their homelands by year-end, the U.S. official said. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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