The Obama administration on Monday released two more people affiliated with Islamic terrorist groups from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, and said they will now be detained in the Republic of Serbia.
The Department of Defense announced that Muhammadi Davlatov of Tajikistan and Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi of Yemen were transferred on Sunday.
The department said the Guantanamo Review Task Force, made up of six federal departments and agencies, unanimously approved Davlatov’s release and transfer. Al-Dayfi was recommended for transfer by consensus of the same six departments and agencies operating as the Periodic Review Board.
Al-Dayfi is an admitted member of al Qaeda and had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, according to the Department of Defense. He also was aware of other attacks against U.S. interests and admitted to receiving basic training at one of al Qaeda’s camps and specialized terrorist training for tasks like suicide operations.
His name also appears on multiple documents associated with al Qaeda.
Davlatov is an admitted member of the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan. He has significant ties to senior al Qaeda members and received basic and advanced training from al Qaeda training camps.
Upon his capture, Davlatov was found with documents outlining how to make explosives, chemical agents and poison.
Both men’s memorandums from 2008, which recommended their continued detention, listed them as “high risk” detainees and that they were likely to “pose a threat to the U.S., its interests, and allies.”
Just last week, Congress complained about the process by which detainees were transferred to other states, after charging that Obama administration officials are unable to track where they end up, and that they may still pose a threat.
One of the required standards is that released prisoners must not raise security threats to the U.S. any longer. However, a prisoner previously affiliated with al Qaeda was released to Uruguay and disappeared last month.
Congress was told in March that Uruguay was suitable to relocate Guantanamo detainees. But Republicans said it later became clear that Uruguay doesn’t see detainees as former terrorists, but rather as “refugees,” and doesn’t restrict their travel or monitor them.
According to the Department of Defense and the State Department, this transfer of al-Dayfi and Davlatov is in keeping with the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to close Guantanamo.
“The United States appreciates the generous assistance of Serbia as the United States continues its efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. “This significant humanitarian gesture is consistent with Serbia’s leadership on the global stage.”
Since 2009, 30 other countries have offered resettlement opportunities to over 100 Guantanamo detainees. Currently, Guantanamo holds 76 detainees.
