US transfers Guantanamo Bay detainee to Kenya
3 min read
Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu.
The United States has transferred a detainee from Guantanamo Bay to Kenya, marking the first detainee transfer in over a year. Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu’s transfer to Kenya came nearly three years after a Periodic Review Board determined that his continued detention was unnecessary. This decision, made in December 2021, was outlined in a Pentagon release on Tuesday. Despite being held at the military prison since 2007, Bajabu was never charged with a crime.
Bajabu’s case had drawn attention, as he was a key facilitator for al-Qaeda in East Africa prior to his detention, according to Department of Defense filings. His transfer to Kenya follows the Pentagon’s formal notification to Congress by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in November. His release underscores ongoing efforts to reduce the population at Guantanamo Bay, a facility that has long been a point of contention in terms of both legal and human rights concerns.
The last transfer at Guantanamo occurred in April 2023, when a 72-year-old detainee with ties to al-Qaeda was sent to Algeria after over two decades of detention. This transfer represented a rare shift as, under President Joe Biden’s administration, the Guantanamo Bay detention center has continued to hold numerous detainees despite a pledge to close the facility. At the beginning of Biden’s presidency, about 40 detainees remained at Guantanamo, but this number has only slightly decreased during his tenure.
Currently, 29 detainees remain at the facility, with 15 of them eligible for transfer. This includes the three alleged 9/11 conspirators whose plea deals have sparked an ongoing dispute between the Pentagon and the military judge overseeing the case. These detainees’ cases are emblematic of the broader legal complexities surrounding Guantanamo Bay, where some prisoners have been detained without charge for years.
The closure of the facility had been a key promise made by former President Barack Obama during his campaign for the presidency. Obama aimed to close Guantanamo, establishing the office of military commissions and the Periodic Review Board to assess the detainees’ cases. However, despite his efforts during his eight years in office, the facility remained open due to political resistance and logistical hurdles.
In 2018, President Donald Trump reversed Obama’s policy with an executive order that mandated the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay. This order stated that additional detainees could be sent to the facility when deemed lawful and necessary for national security purposes. Trump’s administration also signaled a willingness to hold more detainees at the site, which contradicted the previous momentum toward closure.
Guantanamo Bay was originally opened in 2002 with the goal of housing suspects captured in the U.S. War on Terror. The facility became infamous for the indefinite detention of individuals without trial and was associated with a wide array of human rights violations, including allegations of torture. As the war on terror stretched into years and then decades, the prison grew to symbolize the United States’ controversial approach to combating terrorism in the post-9/11 era.
While the number of detainees has been reduced over the years, Guantanamo continues to hold prisoners, with many facing legal challenges and disputes over their treatment. The transfer of Bajabu is a step forward in reducing the prison population, but the issue of Guantanamo’s future remains unresolved. Efforts to close the facility have been complicated by political divides and the broader questions surrounding the legal status of detainees held there.
The detainees at Guantanamo Bay represent a complex and often controversial aspect of U.S. foreign policy. As the nation moves forward in its approach to counterterrorism and human rights, the fate of Guantanamo and its remaining detainees will continue to be a topic of debate. As the Pentagon seeks to transfer detainees and reduce the facility’s population, the political and legal challenges surrounding the prison persist, and questions of justice, security, and international law remain at the forefront of discussions.
About The Author
