The US Released Five More Gitmo Inmates — But Congress Made Closing the Prison Even Harder This Year

Five Guantanamo detainees held for more than a decade without charge or trial were transferred by the US early Wednesday morning to Kazakhstan, closing out a year in which President Barack Obama tried to make good on his 2009 promise of shutting down the detention facility by gradually reducing the facility's inmate population.

"As directed by the president's Jan. 22, 2009, executive order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of this case. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, these men were unanimously approved for transfer by the six departments and agencies comprising the task force," the Defense Department said in a statement. "The United States coordinated with the Government of Kazakhstan to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures."

The transfer of the three Yemenis and two Tunisians to the Central Asian nation comes one week after the resignation of Clifford Sloan, the State Department's Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure. Sloan, whose resignation took effect today, is returning to his Washington, DC law practice. His main job duties included negotiating prisoner transfers with foreign governments. The White House has not yet named a replacement.

During Sloan's 18-month tenure, a total of 39 Guantanamo detainees were resettled to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Uruguay, Algeria, and Georgia. White House officials told VICE News the Obama administration hopes to speed up the transfers of 59 detainees who have already been cleared for release and, according to review panels, no longer pose a threat to national security.

In a December 21 interview on CNN, Obama reiterated his commitment to closing Guantanamo before he leaves office, saying the facility "is something that continues to inspire jihadists and extremists around the world, the fact that these folks are being held… It is contrary to our values."

Guantanamo: Black Out Bay: Watch the VICE News documentary.

Obama made those remarks just days after he signed into law an annual Defense Department spending bill that contained transfer restrictions imposed by Congress that made it much more difficult for the president to achieve his goal. White House spokesman Josh Earnest previously said Obama would veto the legislation if the Guantanamo restrictions were not removed.

In a statement attached to the legislation, Obama said he would use his executive powers carry out detainee transfers if the law's restrictions "operate in a manner that violates constitutional separation of powers principles."

"I have repeatedly called upon the Congress to work with my Administration to close the detention facility at Guantanamo once and for all," Obama said in the statement. "Individuals from across the political spectrum have recognized that the facility should be closed. But instead of removing unwarranted and burdensome restrictions that curtail the executive branch's options for managing the detainee population, this bill continues them."

South Carolina's Lindsey Graham said the new Republican majority in Congress plans to fight Obama's attempts to shutter Guantanamo come January. "Rather than closing Guantanamo Bay, [Obama] should be filling up the place because terrorism is on the march," Graham told CBS News during a recent interview.

In a letter sent to Obama last October, Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte called on the president to suspend detainee transfers citing reports that former detainees have joined the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

"At a time when ISIS presents a growing threat to our homeland and our national security interests abroad and when former Guantanamo detainees are reported to be fighting with ISIS, the last thing we should be doing is making it easier to transfer Guantanamo detainees to other countries," Ayotte said in a statement.

Last week, the Obama administration put former Guantanamo detainee Ibrahim al-Rubaysh, released in 2006 to Saudi Arabia, on a list of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," and offered a $5 million reward for his capture. Al-Rubaysh, according to the State Department, is now a senior member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Will Cuba now cash 55 years' worth of Guantanamo rent checks? Read more here.

The detainees released early Wednesday were identified as Yemenis Asim Thabit Abdullah al-Khalaqi, Muhammad Ali Husayn Khanayna, Sabri Muhammad Ibrahim al-Qurashi, and Tunisians Adel al-Hakeemy and Abdullah bin Ali al-Lufti. According to US military documents leaked by Wikileaks, the detainees were captured between 2001 and 2003. They were accused of having ties to al Qaeda and fighting against US forces in Tora Bora following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11.

Cori Crider, Adel's attorney from the international human rights charity Reprieve, said her client was a chef who previously worked at several restaurants in Bologna, Italy. Adel was married in Pakistan and living in Afghanistan at the time of the 2001 invasion when he was seized and sent to Guantanamo as he attempted to escape the country.

"We thank the Kazakh government and the US State Department for their work to free these men," Crider said. "All Adel wants now is to regain his health, see his daughter, and start his life again. We are very encouraged by this wave of releases at the end of 2014, and hope we see more of the dozens of cleared men left in Guantanamo rejoin their families early next year."

Administration officials did not respond to questions about why the Yemenis were not returned to their home country. In May 2013, Obama lifted a moratorium on the repatriation of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees to Yemen. The prohibition was put into place in January 2010 after a Nigerian radicalized by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula tried to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner with an underwear bomb.

The Obama administration, bowing to pressure from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, expressed fears that Yemen was unable to handle the security of their citizens who are detained in Guantanamo if they are repatriated to Yemen. Earlier this year, then-White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said she said the administration is "now reviewing Yemeni detainees on a case-by-case basis."

Life after Guantanamo: The rehabilitation program for Kuwait's released inmate. Read more here.

Of the 127 detainees who remain imprisoned at Guantanamo, 81 are Yemenis.

As is customary, the departing detainees were given a "travel package" consisting of "a Koran in the detainee's language, a blanket, clothing, and several personal care items," according to Jay Alan Liotta, principal director for the Office of Rule of Law and Detainee Policy at the Defense Department, who described the contents of the care package in sworn declaration obtained by VICE News.

"Specifically, the travel package includes two sets of clothing (pants and smocks), two pairs of underwear, prayer caps, socks, shower shoes, and slip-on shoes," Liotta said. "The package also contains a towel and washcloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, deodorant, shampoo, a razor, and a comb."

Follow Jason Leopold on Twitter: @JasonLeopold

Photo via Wikimedia Commons