A senior State Department official said Thursday that approximately 100 detainees held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could be freed as soon as receiving countries agree to accept them. Speaking to reporters at the U.S. embassy in Paris, Sandra Hodgkinson, deputy head of the department's war crimes office, said Washington requires guarantees that released prisoners will be treated humanely and kept under supervision.
Finding willing host countries has proven difficult. Hodgkinson pointed to 16 ethnic Uighur Muslims from China who have been cleared for release but have gone unclaimed for two years. The U.S. refuses to repatriate them to China, citing torture concerns, yet no third country has agreed to take them in.
Of roughly 250 prisoners previously released from Guantanamo, about 15 later resumed fighting, Hodgkinson noted, explaining the caution surrounding further releases.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, some 750 people have passed through Guantanamo. Only 10 have faced formal charges, and around 490 remain detained. Most were captured during the U.S.-led military campaign that removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.