Following the rendition of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, 29 prisoners remain in the US detention center in Cuba.
The United States published Guantanamo Bay Inmate Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu to Kenya, bringing the number of prisoners at the facility to 29.
The Pentagon announced Bajabu’s release on Tuesday, saying Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin informed Congress last month of the decision to send him back to Kenya.
Bajabu was arrested by Kenyan authorities in Mombasa in 2007 and transferred to Guantanamo weeks later for alleged involvement with al-Qaeda’s East Africa branch.
The Periodic Review Board, which assesses the status of detainees, found in 2021 that Bajabu was “no longer necessary to protect against an ongoing significant threat to the national security of the United States.”
Reprieve US, which represented Bajabu, welcomed his release and said he had been tortured by both Kenyan authorities and US military personnel.
“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 most,” a lawyer representing Bajabu said in a statement.
“His children, infants when he was tortured, interrogated and shipped to Guantanamo, are now adults. This debt can never be repaid, but the least the U.S. can do is ensure Abdulmalik has the support and space he needs to restart his life.”
The Guantanamo Detention Center opened in 2002 to house detainees captured during the so-called “war on terror” following the September 11 attacks.
The prison is located on a U.S. military base in Cuba and is governed by a military commission-run legal system that does not guarantee the same rights as traditional U.S. courts.
Detainees cleared for release sometimes spend years at Guantanamo as Washington looks for countries that can take them in after their release.
The prison once housed nearly 800 inmates, many of whom initially served time at covert CIA locations known as “black sites.” they were tortured under the “enhanced interrogation program” approved by the administration of former President George W. Bush.
Guantanamo has become an enduring symbol of U.S. abuses during this time.
Barack Obama, Bush’s successor, had promised to close the plant, but he failed mainly due to legal formalities and domestic political opposition.
According to the Pentagon, 15 of the 29 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo are eligible for transfer.
In July, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and two other detainees agreed to a plea deal that would see them spend the rest of their lives in prison with no prospect of a trial at which the government could Applying for death would be punishment for them.
But Austin blocked the deal after an outcry from some conservative lawmakers and families of victims of the attack.
A military judge reinstated the consent decree, but the Pentagon is appealing that decision.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it was seeking to close the Guantanamo detention center.
“The United States appreciates the support of ongoing U.S. efforts for a deliberate and thorough process aimed at responsibly reducing the number of detainees and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” it said.
