Today during the routine White House press conference, Biden press secretary Jen Psaki reaffirmed to the media that one of President Joe Biden's priorities at the moment is moving to close the infamous detention facility Guantánamo Bay located at the United States enclave on the southeast coast of Cuba.
A reporter asked Psaki about 10 Guantánamo Bay detainees being eligible for "repatriation," which means returning them to their country of origin. The journalist asked what the timeline was for transferring those 10 and did the Biden administration have a broader plan in play to close Guantánamo Bay eventually.
Psaki responded: "Yes our goal is to close Guantánamo Bay. I can tell you there's 39—I think you know some of this but for others who are following it—there are 39 detainees who remain at Guantánamo Bay. 10 are eligible for transfer, 17 are eligible for a periodic review board, 10 are involved in the military commissions process, and two detainees have been convicted."
For context, the question came up because of the announcement of Biden releasing 56-year-old Abdul Latif Nasser, a Guantánamo Bay detainee. He was sent to Gitmo back in 2002 after being captured by Pakistani agents, per Business Insider.
Amid accusations from officials that Nasser met Osama bin Laden back in 1995, Abdul was never formally charged with any crime.
The former Obama administration had started the transfer process towards the end of his second term, but it was never completed. By the time former President Donald Trump got into office, he halted any further releases.
This all being what Psaki is referring to in her answer: "This individual who we announced the transfer of, the Department of Defense announced the transfer of, had been … had started moving through the process during the Obama-Biden administration, and was on pause for some period of time over the last four years. I don't have a timeline for you, as you know there's a process, there are different layers of the process, but that remains our goal and we are considering all available avenues to responsibly transfer detainees and of course close Guantánamo Bay."
Earlier this year Guantánamo Bay came up in the news as the Biden administration had tried prioritizing COVID-19 vaccines for Gitmo prisoners. Republicans in a matter of days mobilized to block the move. But even the Pentagon had stepped in to pause the program on that particular front.
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