Twenty-nine prisoners remain in American custody in Cuba after the transfer of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu.
The United States released Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu to Kenya, bringing the number of prisoners in the facility to 29.
The Pentagon announced Bajabu's release on Tuesday, saying Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin informed Congress of the decision to return him to Kenya last month.
Bajabu was arrested by Kenyan authorities in Mombasa in 2007 and transferred to Guantanamo weeks later for alleged involvement with al-Qaeda's branch in East Africa.
The Periodic Review Board, which reviews the status of detainees, decided in 2021 that Bajabu was “no longer needed to protect against a significant continuing threat to the national security of the United States”.
Reprieve US, which represented Bajabu, welcomed his release, saying he was tortured by Kenyan authorities and the US military.
“The United States robbed an innocent man of the best years of his life, separating him from his wife and young children when they needed him the most,” said a lawyer who helped represent Bajabu in a statement.
“His children, infants when he was tortured, interrogated and sent to Guantanamo, are grown now. This debt will never be repaid, but it is the least the US can do to ensure that Abdulmalik gets the support and space he needs to start his life anew.”
The Guantanamo Bay detention center was opened in 2002 to house prisoners held during the so-called “war on terror” after the 9/11 attacks.
Located on a US military base in Cuba, the prison operates under a legal system led by military commissions that do not guarantee the same rights as traditional US courts.
Detainees approved for release sometimes spend years at Guantanamo as Washington looks for countries to take after their release.
The prison once housed about 800 inmates, most of whom initially spent time in secret CIA facilities known as “black sites”, where they were tortured under the “enhanced interrogation” program authorized by the administration of former President George W Bush.
Guantanamo has become an enduring symbol of US torture during that period.
Barack Obama, Bush's successor, had promised to close the center, but failed miserably due to legal and political opposition.
Of the 29 detainees remaining at Guantanamo, 15 are eligible for transfer, according to the Pentagon.
In July, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and two other detainees reached a plea deal that would see them spend the rest of their lives in prison without the prospect of a trial when the government seeks death. penalty for them.
But Austin blocked the deal after an outcry from some conservative lawmakers and the families of the victims of the attack.
A military judge reinstated the plea deal, but the Pentagon is appealing that decision.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it intends to close the detention center at Guantanamo.
“The United States appreciates the support of the ongoing US efforts towards a deliberate and comprehensive process aimed at effectively reducing the number of people detained and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” he said.
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