WASHINGTON (AP) – Following a lengthy tug-of-war with Capitol Hill, the Pentagon has given a senator the first-ever, unclassified report detailing the suspected militant backgrounds of more than 100 detainees at or recently released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay – a report that will likely spur more debate over shutting it down.
The report, given to Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who shared it with The Associated Press, tells the story of detainees like Karim Bostan, who once ran a flower shop and later was accused of running an al-Qaida affiliated explosives cell believed to have targeted U.S.-led coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan. He’s been at Guantanamo for more than 13 years, but has been cleared for transfer to a country willing to accept him.
“While the Department of Defense watered down information and failed to provide key details regarding some detainees, the report still provides Americans with a consolidated, unclassified source of information regarding the dangerous terrorists at Guantanamo who the administration has recently released or plans to release soon,” Ayotte said in an email response to questions. She has pushed the Obama administration for years to be more transparent about who is being transferred out.
The remaining detainees “will no doubt” return to the fight once released, she said, noting that the Defense Department told her that 93 percent of the detainees still at Guantanamo as of late last year were high risk for re-engagement in terrorism.
The report, however, also tells the stories of low-level militants released after being detained for more than a dozen years without charge – cases that support those who have long argued that indefinite detention runs counter to U.S. values.