Saudi engineer walks free from Guantanamo prison after 21 years

Saudi engineer walks free from Guantanamo prison after 21 years

US proclaims launch of Ghassan al Sharbi, who was seized from Pakistan in March 2002 as suspect of 9/11 assaults however by no means charged.

Guantanamo became the focus of worldwide controversy over accusations of torture or abusive treatment of prisoners by US authorities.
Guantanamo turned the main focus of worldwide controversy over accusations of torture or abusive remedy of prisoners by US authorities.
(AP Archive)

The United States has introduced the discharge from the infamous Guantanamo navy jail of a Saudi engineer seized over twenty years in the past as a suspect within the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda assaults however by no means charged.

Ghassan Al Sharbi, 48, was detained in Faisalabad, Pakistan with an Al Qaeda affiliate in March 2002.

He was focused as a result of he had studied at an aeronautical college in Arizona and had attended flight college with two of the Al Qaeda high-jackers within the 9/11 plot.

The US navy had weighed prices in opposition to Al Sharbi and several other others however dropped them in 2008.

Yet it continued to carry him as an enemy combatant within the navy jail within the US Navy’s base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and his standing remained in limbo — he was by no means charged however not authorized for launch, both.

But in February 2022 the Pentagon’s Periodic Review Board, which offers with Guantanamo launch petitions, dominated that the native of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, might be launched.

It mentioned he had no management or facilitator place in Al Qaeda, and was compliant in detention — after he was years earlier seen as a hostile prisoner.

It additionally mentioned he had unspecified “physical and mental health issues.”

The 2022 choice indicated he may enter into Saudi Arabia’s longstanding rehabilitation program for radical militants, which seeks to slowly change their viewpoint whereas guaranteeing they are going to be monitored as they return to society.

The overview board mentioned in a press release Wednesday that it really helpful that Sharbi be transferred to Saudi custody “subject to the implementation of a comprehensive set of security measures including monitoring, travel restrictions and continued information sharing.”

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Torture of prisoners

Al Sharbi turns into no less than the fourth Guantanamo detainee launched and despatched to a different nation thus far this yr.

With his launch, 31 detainees stay at Guantanamo, down from a peak of practically 800.

Of them 17 are eligible for switch and the Pentagon and State Department are searching for international locations to simply accept them.

Another three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board overview, whereas 9 are dealing with prices beneath navy commissions and two have been convicted in such commissions.

Often known as Gitmo, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility was created after September 11, 2001 assaults to carry suspects captured in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

It turned the main focus of worldwide controversy over alleged violations of the authorized rights of detainees and accusations of torture or abusive remedy of prisoners by US authorities.

READ MORE: US releases Guantanamo prisoner as soon as tortured by CIA

Source: TRTWorld and businesses

Source: www.trtworld.com