WASHINGTON, November 21 (Sputnik) – Five Guantanamo Bay prisoners will be transported from the detention facility to Georgia and Slovakia, the US Department of Defense (DoD) has announced.
"In accordance with statutory requirements, the Secretary of Defense informed Congress of the United States' intent to transfer these individuals and of his determination that this transfer meets the statutory standard," the DoD said in a statement released Thursday.
The release of prisoners Hashim Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti, Husayn Salim Muhammad Al-Mutari Yafai, Salah Mohammed Salih Al-Dhabi, Abdel Ghaib Ahmad Hakim and Abdul Khaled Al-Baydani follow US President Barack Obama's January 2009 executive order for the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force to conduct a comprehensive review into their cases.
There are currently 143 detainees that remain at the Guantanamo Bay prison, according to the DoD.
Closing the controversial prison camp in Guantanamo Bay was Obama's 2008 presidential campaign promise. According to a Gallup poll, 66 percent of US citizens still oppose the closure.
The detention camp, located in Cuba, has been the subject of harsh criticism since its establishment in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Health workers, inspectors and former detainees have described cruel and inhumane conditions at the camp, including the use of torture.
