The Pentagon announced yesterday that detainee Ridah Bin Saleh Al-Yazidi was repatriated from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Tunisia.
“Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi (ISN 038) was determined transfer-eligible by a rigorous interagency review process established by 2009 Executive Order 13492,” it said in a statement.
Al-Yazidi, 59, had been at Guantanamo Bay since the day it opened on 11 January 2002.
Earlier this year, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin notified Congress of his intent to support this repatriation.
According to the statement, 26 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, 14 are eligible for transfer.
Amnesty International has described Guantanamo detention centre as “a symbol of torture, rendition and indefinite detention without charge or trial”, adding that the offshore detention facility was “specifically designed to evade the rule of law”.
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