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NEWS ABOUT: Guantanamo prisoners

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Al-Qaeda Magazine Found in Gitmo

Prosecutor reveals embarrassing security breach

(Newser) - A copy of al-Qaeda's Inspire magazine somehow found its way into a terror suspect's cell at Guantanamo Bay. The security breach was revealed at a hearing yesterday by a prosecutor defending the prison camp's plan to review mail between prisoners and their attorneys, the Miami Herald reports.... More »

Guantanamo Bay Turns 10

And appears no closer to closure than it was 2 years ago

(Newser) - Today is a birthday, but probably not one you want to celebrate: Guantanamo Bay is turning 10, an anniversary that will be marked by protests here and abroad. Ten years ago, the first 20 detainees were flown to the detention facility in chains. Several of those 20 remain at Gitmo... More »

US May Swap Gitmo Inmates for Taliban Peace Deal

Negotiations near breakthrough, US officials say

(Newser) - After many months of secretive negotiations, peace talks between the US and the Taliban are at a turning point, reports Reuters , which cites senior US officials speaking under condition of anonymity. The US is considering transferring Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Afghan custody in return for concessions from the... More »

US Defends Conditions Inside Gitmo

Military releases rare photos of cell to prove conditions OK in 'Five Echo'

(Newser) - To defend conditions in a disciplinary block at Guantanamo Bay prison, US military officials have released photos of the rarely seen interior, reports the AP . "Five Echo," a section of the prison used for "noncompliant" detainees, had been accused of violating Geneva Conventions by lawyers for some... More »

NATO Raid Kills Ex-Gitmo Detainee in Afghanistan

He became al-Qaeda operative after leaving Gitmo, say officials

(AP) - NATO and Afghan forces killed a former Guantanamo detainee who had become a key al-Qaeda affiliate after returning to Afghanistan, officials said today. Sabar Lal Melma, who was released from Guantanamo in 2007 after five years of detention, had been organizing attacks in eastern Kunar province and funding insurgent operations,... More »

WikiLeaks Blows Lid Off Gitmo

Secret interrogation memos reveal inmate details, prison life

(Newser) - A trove of some 700 new WikiLeaks documents on Guantanamo reveals detailed military assessments of hundreds of men who have been locked up there as well as information about interrogations, prison conditions, and inmate behavior. The assessments by military intelligence were carried out from 2002 to 2009 and offer a... More »

Obama Restarts Guantanamo Trials

Administration ends 2-year military prosecution freeze

(Newser) - President Obama today reversed a two-year freeze on military prosecutions against Guantanamo Bay detainees, the AP reports. In an executive order, the president restarted the process of trying the high-risk detainees—the latest acknowledgment of the political difficulties of fulfilling his campaign promise to close the Cuban detention facility. Defense... More »

Gitmo Detainee Gets Life for Embassy Bombings

Ahmed Ghailani is first detainee to be tried in civilian court

(Newser) - Ahmed Ghailani—the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried by a civilian court—was sentenced to life in prison today without parole, the AP reports. Ghailani, 36, had been acquitted of more than 200 counts of murder stemming from the attack on US embassies in Africa in 1998, but the... More »

The Reason Guantanamo Still Isn't Closed

When it comes to resettling prisoners, others want US to go first

(Newser) - Two years ago yesterday, President Obama pledged to close the prison camps at Guantánamo Bay within one year. So why are they still open? Much of the blame falls on Congress, the Miami Herald reports. Because Congress won’t allow any of the captives—even those considered low-risk—to... More »

25% of Freed Gitmo Detainees Returned to Terror

New report offers first look at what happened to former prisoners

(Newser) - About one-quarter of former Guantánamo Bay detainees have been linked to terrorist activities since being released, according to a government report. Of the 598 men transferred out of the prison, 81 are confirmed to have taken part in terrorism or insurgency; 69 more are suspected of taking part in... More »

Gitmo Detainee Acquitted on 284 Counts

Ahmed Ghailani guilty of single charge in embassy bombing case

(Newser) - The first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial has been acquitted on 284 of the 285 charges against him, including one murder count for each of the 224 people killed in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The anonymous New York jury found Ahmed Ghailani... More »

UK Paying Millions in Compensation to Gitmo Brits

Men alleged that UK intelligence agencies colluded in torture

(Newser) - The British government plans to pay compensation amounting to millions of dollars to a dozen former Guantanamo Bay inmates. The men, all British citizens or residents, had launched court proceedings against the government and claimed that British intelligence services had colluded in their torture in secret prisons abroad, the Guardian... More »

Gitmo's Former 'Child Soldier' Gets 8 Years

Plea bargain bars teen al-Qaeda fighter from 40-year sentence

(AP) - The long-running case of a onetime teenage al-Qaeda fighter is over, with a US military judge sentencing Omar Khadr to eight more years in custody for war crimes. The sentence was handed down yesterday under a plea bargain in which the young Canadian, now 24, admitted to five war crimes... More »

Former Guantanamo Captive Sues US Over 'Kafkaesque Nightmare'

Abdul Razak al Janko is first prisoner released by judge to sue

(Newser) - Abdul Razak al Janko, a former Guantánamo captive, is suing the US government for damages from the imprisonment he describes as a “Kafkaesque nightmare.” Janko, a 32-year-old Syrian man who now lives in Europe, is the first such captive freed by a federal judge to sue the... More »

Swiss Taking Gitmo Uighur Bros

Brothers detained since 2001 to be resettled in Alpine region

(Newser) - Two Chinese Uighur brothers will soon be swapping Guantanamo Bay for the Swiss Alps. Switzerland officials have decided to accept the men for resettlement on humanitarian grounds. Authorities believe that Bahtiyar and Arkin Mahmud pose no security risk and should be able to find jobs in their new homes in... More »

US Halts Transfer of Gitmo Detainees to Yemen

Obama administration wary of sending al-Qaeda new recruits

(Newser) - The Obama administration has decided not to send any more detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Yemen. About 90 Yemenis remain at the facility, and half of them are cleared for release, but given the growing influence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—thought to be responsible for... More »

Ex Gitmo Inmates Linked to Bomb

Al-Qaeda leaders did art therapy, were freed in Saudi Arabia

(Newser) - Two former Guantanamo Bay inmates are believed to be behind the plot to blow up the Northwest flight to Detroit, according to officials and Defense Department documents. Muhamad Attik al-Harbi—who now calls himself Muhamad al-Awfi—and Said Ali Shari were sent in 2007 to Saudi Arabia where they entered... More »

With No Funds for Ill. Prison, Gitmo Closure Unlikely Until '11

Obama's next request months away

(Newser) - There’s no money to buy the Illinois prison President Obama wants to use to house detainees from the US facility at Guantanamo Bay, meaning it’s unlikely the Cuban detention center will be closed before 2011. Congress last week rejected a request for $200 million to cover the purchase... More »

US to Send 6 Gitmo Detainees Back to Yemen

Move breaks logjam, but risks sending them back into battle

(Newser) - The Obama administration plans to return six Yemeni Guantanamo detainees to their home country, a risky breakthrough that could lead to the release of dozens more detainees. The administration has been in high-level talks with senior Yemeni officials for months, trying to address security concerns, the Washington Post reports. The... More »

Gitmo North: What's the Point?

The location was never the real problem, writes Glenn Greenwald

(Newser) - The president is making good on his promise to close Guantanamo in classic Obama style: by offering lofty rhetoric while continuing his predecessor's policies, writes Glenn Greenwald. The detainees being sent to Illinois won't be getting trials in real American courts and some will never be tried at all, meaning... More »

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