DUSHANBE, April 21, Asia-Plus — On April 20, the U.S. Department of Defense released a list of Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility detainees. Every detainee has had a review of his status to confirm whether he is an enemy combatant or not. This is called a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT).
According to information from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, six Tajik citizens are included on the list of detainees who completed the CSRT process. The United States has been in close contact with the Government of Tajikistan on this issue.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service referring to the U.S. Defense Department named those six Tajiks included on the list: Rukniddin Sharipov, Fayzulloh Mehrabon, Sobit Vohidov, Maruf Solehov, Umar Abdulloyev and Jon Juma.
According to Radio Liberty, in all, 558 people were named in the list provided by the Pentagon on Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information lawsuit by The Associated Press.
Press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe says no one has been brought to Guantanamo Bay in over a year. Approximately 500 detainees remain there, and more than 250 have been released or transferred to their country of citizenship.
The detainees brought to Guantanamo Bay were captured waging war against the coalition or actively supporting al Qaeda or the Taliban or both. They were brought to Guantanamo Bay because of the information they potentially possessed on terrorist plots and tactics, or because of their danger to the population at large if released.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has full, unfettered access to every detainee at Guantanamo Bay, just as it would to prisoners of war. The ICRC meets with detainees in private to conduct interviews during regular and frequent visits to Guantanamo Bay.
The United States has no interest in maintaining enemy fighters in militarydetention any longer than is necessary, and approximately 250 detainees havealready have been released or transferred from Guantanamo. Unfortunately, ofthose already released from Guantanamo Bay, approximately 15 have returnedto acts of terror and been recaptured. Those who remain in Guantanamo are there to prevent their return to battle.
