The task force charged with determining the fate of Guantanamo Bay prisoners has recommended to Congress that more than half of the detainees be released, The Washington Post reported.
Of the 240 Guantanamo Bay detainees, only 10 percent were “leaders, operatives and facilitators involved in plots against the United States,” the Guantanamo Review Task Force found in its final report. The task force finished its report in January, but only released copies to members of Congress this week. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the report
According to the report, 126 detainees should be released to their home countries or a third-party country. Another 36 should be prosecuted and 48 should be held indefinitely under the laws of war, the task force found.
The task force’s yearlong review was conducted by officials from agencies including the Defense Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as well as the Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security.
More than 60 career prosecutors, agents, analysts and attorneys picked through detainee files. Detainee transfers required a unanimous decision by all agencies on the task force.
“It is important to emphasize that a decision to approve a detainee for transfer does not reflect a decision that a detainee poses no threat or no risk of recidivism,” the report said, according to The Post. “The review participants nonetheless considered those detainees appropriate candidates for transfer from a threat perspective, in light of their limited skills, minor organizational roles, or other factors.”
Read the full Washington Post story here.
