As Trumps Inauguration Looms, the Window to Release Guantnamo Detainees Is Closing
As Trump’s Inauguration Looms, the Window to Release Guantánamo Detainees Is Closing
John Knefel
The Nation
Yesterday, the Obama administration announced the transfer of four detainees to Saudi Arabia. That leaves 55 prisoners, 19 of whom have been cleared for release. The administration has all but conceded that it will fail in its efforts to shutter the prison, and even if every detainee cleared for transfer is released, the detention facility will continue to hold nearly 40 men.
Lt. Col. Sterling Thomas represents Zahir, and in a telephone interview the day after Trump’s tweet, told The Nation about the stress his client is facing. “He is very worried,” says Thomas. “He is quite anxious, as many of the men are down there, about what their fate will be. Whether they will be released, or whether they will be held without end under the incoming administration.”
Little is known about the specifics of the abuse Zahir underwent while in US custody. His name doesn’t appear in the unclassified executive summary of the Senate Torture report, but when asked if Zahir had been tortured, Thomas said, “He was. I can’t get too much further into it….but yes, he was.”
Beyond the nightmarish limbo that Zahir is in, it is all but certain that indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay will be a feature of the Trump administration, virtually codifying it as a permanent aspect of the US national security state. Beyond Trump himself, the president-elect has surrounded himself with pro-Guantánamo figures, from National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to CIA-head-in-waiting Mike Pompeo. Yesterday, a Trump transition-team member said the president-elect will name recently-retired senator Dan Coats as his pick for director of national intelligence. In that role, Coats will be responsible for yearly reports on the possibility of reengagement among Guantánamo detainees, reports that could be used to justify indefinite detention.
