Two detainees were recently transferred out of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, with one Yemeni captive sent to Spain and another man placed in the custody of the Bulgarian government.
The Justice Department first began sending out news releases in January 2009 after the formation of the Guantanamo Review Task Force. Before 2009, the Defense Department issued all news releases on transfers from Guantanamo Bay.
The transfer of the news release duty back to DOD was noted by Miami Herald Guantanamo reporter Carol Rosenberg on Twitter.
“The Guantanamo Review Task Force, which was led by the Justice Department, completed its work reviewing Guantanamo Bay detainees in January 2010. As a result, the Justice Department has no current or ongoing role in Guantanamo detainee transfers to foreign nations, which are negotiated by the State Department and carried out by the Defense Department,” DOJ spokesman Dean Boyd said in a statement to Main Justice.
According to the Department of Defense, the current population of the Guantanamo detention facility stands at 181. The Obama administration missed a self-imposed January deadline to close the facility.
[...] Obama sends Gitmo detainees to Spain and Bulgaria, Justice Dept claims no role in transfers Posted on May 6, 2022 by creeping Defense Takes Over Gitmo Transfer Announcements [...]