WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Nearly 18 percent of the 647 detainees released from the US military’s Guantanamo Bay detention facility reengaged in terrorism after release, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said in a report, noting that future releases will result in similar numbers of recidivism.
“Based on trends identified during the past eleven years, we assess that some detainees currently at Guantanamo will seek to reengage in terrorist or insurgent activities after they are transferred. Transfers to countries with ongoing conflicts and internal instability as well as active recruitment by insurgent and terrorist organizations pose particular problems,” DNI said in a bi-annual report on terrorist recidivism on Wednesday.
Of 647 detainees released as of January, 116 (17.9 percent) reengaged in terrorism and 69 (10.7 percent) are suspected of reengaging in terrorism, according to DNI assessments. Of those who reengaged in terrorism 25 are dead, 23 are in custody and 68 are free.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo detention facility, but lawmakers have express concern inmates could reengage in terrorism if released.
US authorities opened the Guantanamo prison in 2002 in the wake of 9/11 terror attacks. Human rights advocates have repeatedly criticized the practices against inmates at Guantanamo, citing inhumane conditions of confinement, torture, and the lack of legal due process.
In 2009, President Obama issued an executive order to review the status of all individuals imprisoned at Guantanamo. US authorities nearly cut in half the number of detainees at Guantanamo since 2009, but more than 100 detainees still remain imprisoned. Concern over recidivism and the need to find third-countries to host inmates from war-torn countries such as Yemen, Libya, and Syria have slowed down the release of inmates.
