There are fewer than 100 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the first time in more than a decade after Thursday’s transfer of 10 prisoners.
Ten Yemeni detainees have been transferred to Oman, bringing the total population of the prison to 93, according to a Pentagon release.
The last time there were fewer than 100 detainees was in 2002, according to data compiled by the New York Times.
So far, 14 prisoners have been transferred in the first two weeks of 2016 as President Obama pushes to make good on a promise made his first day in office to close the prison.
“I will keep working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo: it’s expensive, it’s unnecessary, and it only serves as a recruitment brochure for our enemies,” Obama said during the State of the Union speech this week.
The recent uptick in transfers has met resistance on Capitol Hill. Two key members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have asked for a hearing on how these releases could affect national security.
“The administration has increased the pace of transfers, citing arguments related to the cost of Guantanamo and the detention facility’s supposed role in terrorist radicalization that do not withstand scrutiny,” GOP Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter. “Many of the detainees transferred were associated with al Qaeda, engaged in terrorist activity, and/or participated in hostilities against U.S. troops.”
Sen. John McCain, who chairs the committee, told reporters this week that he plans to hold a hearing on Guantanamo.
