Rear Admiral Thomas H. Copeman III, Commandant of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, ordered the posting of the official list of Guantanamo captives cleared in 2009. During the last years of the Presidency of George W. Bush captives had annual reviews conducted by an Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants.

On January 22, 2009, two days after President Barack Obama took office, he issued Executive Orders 13491, 13492 and 13493, all of which concerned how the United States should treat its captives.

The new policies superseded the older reviews, and included new, inter-agency reviews. President Obama announced plans to close the camps before January 22, 2010. According to the Associated Press and Reuters Admiral Copeman ordered the lists of captives who had been cleared for release to be posted to prevent the spread of rumors. Reuters reported the official list included 78 names. A further 17 captives have been repatriated or transferred since President Obama took office.

__TOC__

Nationality of Guantanamo captives cleared for release in 2009 + Nationality of Guantanamo captives cleared for release in 2009 as of 2009-09-28 cleared nationality not cleared 26 Yemen 70 13 Uyghur 0 9 Tunisia 1 7 Algeria 9 4 Syria 4 3 Libya 4 3 Saudi Arabia 13 2 Uzbekistan 2 2 Egypt 1 2 West bank 0 2 Kuwait 2 1 Azerbaijan 0 1 Tajikistan 1 0 Indonesia 1

Captives known to have been released, transferred or repatriated in 2009 Six captives left Guantanamo on January 17, 2009, four days before Barack Obama took office.

As of September 29, 2009 17 captives have been released, transferred or repatriated sing Barack Obama took office and reversed some policies of the George W. Bush Presidency. Some of these men were released, after a habeas corpus petition ruled that the USA was holding them illegally. Other captive were not cleared of suspicion of playing a role that had threatened the USA, but were repatriated to their home country, or transferred to the custody of a third country, because they were determined to no longer pose a significant threat.

In addition a captive died while in the camp's psychiatric wing, and another captive was transferred to the USA to stand trial in civilian court.

+ Captives known to have been released, transferred or repatriated in 2009 ISN transferdate transfertype nationality destination name notes 968 2009-01-17 release Greece Greece Alex Korakitis An administrative review by military officers determined that he was not an enemy combatant after all. 175 2009-01-17 repatriation Algeria Algeria Hassan Mujamma Rabai Said Identity initially withheld following repatriation. 111 2009-01-17 repatriation Iraq Iraq Ali Abdul Motalib Awayd Hassan al Tayeea Identity initially withheld following repatriation. 435 2009-01-17 repatriation Iraq Iraq Hassan Abdul Said Identity initially withheld following repatriation. 653 2009-01-17 repatriation Iraq Iraq Arkan Mohammad Ghafil al Karim Identity initially withheld following repatriation. 758 2009-01-17 repatriation Iraq Iraq Abbas Habid Rumi al Naely Identity initially withheld following repatriation. 1458 2009-02-23 transfer Ethiopia United Kingdom Binyam Mohamed Binyam Mohamed had long-term permanent resident status in the United Kingdom prior to visiting Afghanistan. He was held for years in CIA custody, where he described horrific torture, and that all his confessions were triggered by coercive interrogation. Charges were laid against him before a military commission that he had plotted with Jose Padilla, Abu Zubaydah and Majid Khan to explode dirty bombs in the USA. When evidence emerged that he really had been tortured, and that UK security officials were complicit in the torture, the UK government negotiated for the charges to be dropped and for him to be transferred to the UK. 10005 2009-05-15 release Bosnia France Lakhdar Boumediene On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Boumediene v. Bush in June 2008 that Guantanamo captives were entitled to access the United States' civilian justice system. On November 20, 2008 US District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled in his habeas corpus petition that the evidence did not support the claim that Boumediene and four other Bosnians of Algerian descent were enemy combatants. After some negotiation Boumediene, who had family ties in France, was granted asylum in France. 10012 2009-06-09 trial Tanzania US Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani One of the captives who spent years in the CIA's black sites. The first Guantanamo captive transferred to the United States to stand trial in Civilian court on charges he helped plan attacks on American embassies in Africa. 433 2009-06-10 repatriation Iraq Iraq Jawad Jabber Sadkhan Identity initially withheld following repatriation. 269 2009-06-10 release Chad Chad Mohammed El Gharani Captured in Pakistan, when he was still a child. Although El Gharani is officially a citizen of Chad, he was born in Saudi Arabia to Chadian guest workers. He had never lived in Chad, and couldn't communicate with anyone there. 278 2009-06-11 release Uyghur Bermuda Khaleel Mamut In September 2008 the Department of Justice abandons the "enemy combatant" classification for the remaining seventeen Uyghur captives in Guantanamo after Huzaifa Parhat's DTA petition overturned his Combatant Status Review Tribunal's determination. They are all moved to Camp Iguana. On June 11, 2009 Khaleel Mamut and three other Uyghurs are accepted by Bermuda, even though the United Kingdom still controls Bermuda's Defence and Foreign Affairs. 285 2009-06-11 release Uyghur Bermuda Abdullah Abdulqadirakhun In September 2008 the Department of Justice abandons the "enemy combatant" classification for the remaining seventeen Uyghur captives in Guantanamo after Huzaifa Parhat's DTA petition overturned his Combatant Status Review Tribunal's determination. They are all moved to Camp Iguana. On June 11, 2009 Abdulla Abdulqadir and three other Uyghurs are accepted by Bermuda, even though the United Kingdom still controls Bermuda's Defence and Foreign Affairs. 295 2009-06-11 release Uyghur Bermuda Salahidin Abdulahat In September 2008 the Department of Justice abandons the "enemy combatant" classification for the remaining seventeen Uyghur captives in Guantanamo after Huzaifa Parhat's DTA petition overturned his Combatant Status Review Tribunal's determination. They are all moved to Camp Iguana. On June 11, 2009 Salahidin Abdulahat and three other Uyghurs are accepted by Bermuda, even though the United Kingdom still controls Bermuda's Defence and Foreign Affairs. 320 2009-06-11 release Uyghur Bermuda Ablikim Turahun In September 2008 the Department of Justice abandons the "enemy combatant" classification for the remaining seventeen Uyghur captives in Guantanamo after Huzaifa Parhat's DTA petition overturned his Combatant Status Review Tribunal's determination. They are all moved to Camp Iguana. On June 11, 2009 Ablikim Turahun and three other Uyghurs are accepted by Bermuda, even though the United Kingdom still controls Bermuda's Defence and Foreign Affairs. 335 2009-06-12 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Khalid Saad Mohammed 669 2009-06-12 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair A long term hunger striker, whose weight had dropped dangerously low, in spite of twice-daily force-feeding. 687 2009-06-12 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Abdalaziz Kareem Salim al Noofayaee 900 2009-08-24 release Afghanistan Afghanistan Mohammed Jawad A child when captured, he faced charges before a Guantanamo military commission. His Prosecutor resigned when he realized that the evidence against Jawad consisted largely of coerced confessions. US District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, the judge presiding over his habeas corpus petition, also ruled the confessions were coerced, and thus inadmissible, and orders his release. United States Attorney General Eric Holder orders a new criminal investigation. The Justice Department claims they have new witnesses, which will justify laying new charges against Jawad in a civilian court in the USA. Jawad's lawyer's travel to Afghanistan, visit the site of the bombing, and interview the witnesses, who invite them to outbid the Prosecution. The Prosecution's case collapses. 312 2009-08-28 transfer Syria Portugal Muhammad Abd Al Nasir Muhammad Khantumani Transferred to Portugal on 2009-08-28. 317 2009-08-28 transfer Syria Portugal Moammar Badawi Dokhan Transferred to Portugal on 2009-08-28. 692 2009/09/26 release Yemen Yemen Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed US District Court Judge Gladys Kessler ordered All Ali Bin Ali Ahmed's release from Guantanamo on May 5, 2009. According to the Los Angeles Times: "The judge gave the government until June 15 to report on the status of his release." 22 2009-09-26 transfer Uzbekistan Ireland Shakrukh Hamiduva Was not given any annual Administrative Review Board hearings. Identified as a transferred captive by The New York Times. 452 2009-09-26 transfer Uzbekistan Ireland Oybek Jamoldinivich Jabbarov Identified as a transferred captive by The New York Times. 213 2009-10-09 repatriation Kuwait Kuwait Khalid Mutairi US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kottely ordered the immediate repatriation of Khaled Al Mutairi on July 29, 2009. transferred from Guantanamo on October 9, 2009. 2009-10-09 transfer Belgium His name and nationality were withheld. Belgian officials said he was a free man, who would be aided into a rapid re-integration into society, `after a particularly difficult time in Guantánamo.'.

References