Obama’s DOJ Surprises Rights Groups, Identifies One-Third of Gitmo for Release Despite ex-Prisoner’s Involvement in Libyan Attack (+video)
By Associated Press. The U.S. Justice Department on Friday made public the names of 55 Guantanamo prisoners who have been approved for transfer to the custody of other countries, releasing information sought by human rights organizations.
The announcement, which reverses a 2009 decision, was a surprise to organizations that had filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the information.
“We did not expect this,” said Omar Farah, attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights. “This is an important development.”
Farah said the government’s action will be a boost for lawyers representing detainees at the U.S. military base in Cuba. “We can now advocate publicly for the release of our clients by name,” he said.
The government’s move has no immediate, practical effect on the inmates’ detention. Inclusion on the list does not mean that the U.S. has absolved them of any wrongdoing or that it believes they pose no threat, and there was no indication of when any might be sent elsewhere. Read more from this story HERE.
Here’s a CBS report regarding the ex-Gitmo prisoner who may have been behind the murder of the United States’ Libyan Ambassador in Benghazi: