US grateful to Ghana for hosting two Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainees

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The United States government has expressed gratitude to the Government of Ghana for providing refuge for two Yemeni detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and for assisting in the closure of the facility.

The two Yemeni detainees are identified by the New York Times as Khalid Mohammed Salih al-Dhuby and Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef, captured by Afghan forces in late 2001 and handed over to the US.

“We remain very appreciative of the assistance of our friends and allies who have stepped up to accept detainees for resettlement. We appreciate this generous humanitarian action by our partner, the Republic of Ghana. The closure of Guantanamo is a goal shared by many governments around the world”, a statement issued by the American embassy in Accra and copied to ghanabusinessnews.com said.

According to the statement, the US coordinated with the Government of Ghana to ensure that these transfers took place “consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”

What is touted as “a comprehensive review” was conducted by the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force in accordance with an executive order by the US President on January 22, 2009.

“As a result of those reviews, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, Atef and Al-Dhuby were unanimously approved for transfer nearly six years ago by the six departments and agencies comprising the task force”, the Embassy said.

The statement explained that the decision to transfer a detainee is made “only after detailed, specific conversations with the receiving country about the potential threat a detainee may pose after transfer and the measures the receiving country will take in order to sufficiently mitigate that threat, and to ensure humane treatment.”

“While our policy preference is to repatriate detainees to their home countries where we can do so consistent with our national security and humane treatment policies, under certain circumstances the most viable transfer option is resettlement in a third country. Of the 133 detainees who have been transferred from Guantanamo during this Administration, 82 have been resettled in third countries.”

The Ghanaian public however, have been unhappy about the development and have been questioning the propriety of the decision taken by the government.

By Emmanuel Odonkor

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