The Trump administration may relocate hundreds of captured Islamic State fighters being held in Syria by resource-strapped rebel forces to prisons in Iraq or the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, according to a report.
The administration is considering the plan amid struggles to convince many of the fighters’ home countries to repatriate them, NBC News reported Wednesday.
The prisoners who could be moved are part of a group of about 600 Islamic State fighters being held by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in a rebel-controlled area of the war-torn country, but they lack the means to continue to detain them or prosecute them for any alleged crimes amid the ongoing conflict. The issue is further complicated by the fact many of the detainees are foreign born.
Under the proposal reported by NBC News, the highest-value fighters – potentially including the four members of the jihadi cell known as the “The Beatles” because of their British accents – would be sent to Guantanamo. The U.S. may also retain the right to prosecute prisoners held in Iraq if their countries of origin refuse to take them back.
The idea of shifting detainees to Guantanamo has provoked a strong reaction from members of Congress, such as Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as well as human rights advocates, who would prefer to see the fighters face justice in federal civilian courts.
Spokespeople for the National Security Council and the State Department would not comment to NBC News about specific options for foreign prisoners or the status of individual cases.
But Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson told the news outlet, “DOD’s detainee policy provides our warfighters guidance on nominating detainees for transfer to Guantanamo detention should the individual present a continuing, significant threat to the security of the United States.”
NBC News’ report follows Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S. Central Command, pushing back on claims earlier in August that fighters held in Afghanistan were being treated like “honored guests” by the Afghan government.
