Biden administration releases its first detainee from Guantanamo after nearly two decades in prison

Joe Biden’s administration has transferred its first detainee from Guantanamo Bay, where a man who was never charged with a crime was held for nearly two decades and was referred for release in 2016 but remained at the prison under Donald Trump’s administration.

The release of Abdul Latif Nassar, who was imprisoned at the wartime facility in 2002, could signal the administration’s motions towards its complete closure.

Mr Nassar will be repatriated to his native Morocco “subject to security and humane treatment assurances”, according to a statement from the US Department of Defense.

In 2016, an inter-agency panel determined that his detention “no longer remained necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States”, according to the Pentagon.

“The United States commends the Kingdom of Morocco for its long-time partnership in securing both countries’ national security interests,” the Pentagon said. “The United States is also extremely grateful for the Kingdom’s willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.”

In 2018, Mr Trump ordered the prison in Cuba to remain open and continue admitting detainees “when lawful and necessary” after partially repealing an effort under Barack Obama to begin closing its operations, which Mr Obama signed on his second day in office.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier this year that the National Security Council was engaged in administration talks to completely shut down the prison by the end of Mr Biden’s first term in office in 2024.

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Monday that the administration is “dedicated to following a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population of the Guantanamo facility while also safeguarding the security of the United States and its allies”.

The prison, which opened under George W Bush following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, has been widely criticised for reportedly denying due process to detainees under extrajudicial imprisonment as they endure human rights abuses.

Mr Nassar was held in Afghanistan for several months before his transfer to Guantanamo in May 2002. A six-part Radiolab series following a years long investigation revealed most of the government’s claims against him lacked meaningful evidence to justify his detention.

His counsel told the inter-agency Periodic Review Board in 2016 that he had “not made any negative comments or expressed any ill will towards the United States nor displayed any evidence of an interest in extremist activities” during his detention and “deeply regrets his actions of the past”.

Following Mr Nassar’s transfer, the prison will continue to hold 39 people, 11 who are charged with war crimes. The prison held nearly 700 men at the prison’s peak after 9/11.