US releases long-held Guantanamo detainee back to Tunisia

Another Guantanamo detainee has been released by the US, bringing the total number of detainees to 26 out of the 40 that were detained there at the start of the Biden presidency.

The Pentagon announced on the night of December 30th that a Tunisian held for over two decades at Guantanamo bay would be released from the compound, according to The Guardian.

Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi was transferred back to his home country after being held without charge since Guantanamo opened back in January 2002.

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He appeared in an iconic photo associated with Guantanamo bay, which showed detainees kneeling in the open-air compound of camp x-ray.

His release follows three other people sent to Kenya and Malaysia, and more than half of the 26-strong population of detainees at the facility are now eligible for transfer.

A leaked military assessment from 2007 indicated that Pakistani authorities captured Yazidi in December 2001 near the Afghan border. US officials alleged ties to al-Qaida, though human rights organizations have denied the credibility of those claims.

Yazidi was kept in detention due to a long list of hurdles after he was cleared for transfer in 2007 under both the Bush and Obama administrations.

The New York Times reports that former state department official Ian Moss attributed the delay to diplomatic issues with Tunisia and Yazidi’s reported unwillingness to consider alternative countries for resettlement.

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Guantanamo bay, situated in an occupied part of Cuba, has drawn international condemnation throughout its existence since becoming a symbol abuses during the war on terror.

It has been criticised for indefinite detention without trial and torture, which the US government has described as ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’.

It is estimated that 780 people have passed through Guantanamo’s cells since 2002. The Pentagon offered no details about arrangements for Yazidi’s return to Tunisia.

The Guardian, The New York Times