Guantanamo detainee sent to home country as policy shifts
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday transferred a Guantanamo Bay detainee to his home country for the first time, a policy shift from the Trump presidency that repatriated a Moroccan man years after he was recommended for discharge.
The prisoner, Abdullatif Nasser, who’s in his mid50s, was cleared for repatriation by a review board in July 2016 but remained at Guantanamo for the duration of the Trump presidency.
A review board determined Mr. Nasser’s detention was no longer necessary to protect U.S. national security, the Pentagon said Monday. The board had recommended authorization for Mr. Nasser’s repatriation, but that couldn’t be completed before the end of the Obama administration, it said.
Mr. Nasser, also known as Abdul Latif Nasser, arrived Monday in Morocco, where police took him into custody and said they would investigate him on suspicion of committing terrorist acts — even though he was never charged while in Guantanamo.
The State Department said in a statement that the Biden administration would continue “a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population of the Guantanamo facility while also safeguarding the security of the United States and its allies.”
The detention center opened in 2002. President George W. Bush’s administration transformed what had been a sleepy Navy outpost on Cuba’s southeastern tip into a place to interrogate and imprison people suspected of links to alQaida and the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Obama administration, seeking to allay concerns some of those released had “returned to the fight,” set up a process to ensure those repatriated or resettled in third countries no longer posed a threat. It also planned to try some of the men in federal court.
But the closure effort was thwarted when Congress barred the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to the U.S., including for prosecution or medical care. President Barack Obama ultimately released 197 prisoners. With Mr. Nasser’s transfer, the Guantanamo population stands at 39.
The prisoner transfer process had stalled under President Donald Trump. He said even before taking office there should be no further releases from “Gitmo,” as Guantanamo Bay is often called. “These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield,” he said.
The possibility former Guantanamo prisoners would resume hostile activities has long been a concern that has played into the debate over releases. The office of the director of national intelligence said in a 2016 report about 17% of the 728 detainees who had been released were “confirmed” and 12% were “suspected” of re-engaging in such activities.