Guantanamo inmate sent home to Kuwait
AFP
WASHINGTON - The United States handed over a Kuwaiti citizen held at Guantanamo Bay to his home country on Wednesday, three months after a federal judge ordered him released, the Justice Department said.
His departure left 210 detainees at the controversial US prison camp in southeastern Cuba.
Fouad al-Rabiah, 50, was found innocent of terrorism charges in September but had since remained at the US naval base, with his lawyers pleading for his transfer.
Lieutenant Commander Kevin Bogucki, Rabiah's lead military counsel, said the release "underscores the important role federal courts play in securing justice for Guantanamo detainees."
Rabiah "is an innocent man, wrongfully charged, and wrongfully confined for eight years," Bogucki said in a statement.
"Now that he is finally free, the people of Kuwait should welcome him back with open arms."
The Kuwaiti Family Committee, a group formed by relatives of Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo, noted that a "state of the art rehabilitation center" in Kuwait modeled after a similar program in Saudi Arabia was ready to receive released detainees.
"The new facility will provide detainees with access to education, medical care, group discussions and physical exercise to help them recover from their long ordeal in Guantanamo," the group said.
In declaring him innocent, US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Rabiah was mistreated during his detention and that the only evidence prosecutors gathered against him came from uncorroborated statements from other inmates.
He is the second Kuwaiti released from Guantanamo since President Barack Obama pledged shortly after his inauguration to close the controversial prison camp.
Obama has ordered Guantanamo shuttered by January 22, but White House officials have admitted they may not meet the deadline as they encounter diplomatic, legal and political setbacks to the plans.
Only a trickle of detainees have been transferred from the jail since Obama took office.
In October, the other Kuwaiti detainee, 34-year-old Khaled al-Mutairi, was transferred back to the Gulf state.
Two more Kuwaiti prisoners still linger in Guantanamo: Fawzi al-Odah, whose detention Kollar-Kotelly has said is justified, and Fayiz al-Kandari, who has been handed war crimes charges by the former military tribunals set up by Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.
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Rabiah "is an innocent man, wrongfully charged, and wrongfully confined for eight years," Bogucki said in a statement.
"Now that he is finally free, the people of Kuwait should welcome him back with open arms."
The Kuwaiti Family Committee, a group formed by relatives of Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo, noted that a "state of the art rehabilitation center" in Kuwait modeled after a similar program in Saudi Arabia was ready to receive released detainees.
"The new facility will provide detainees with access to education, medical care, group discussions and physical exercise to help them recover from their long ordeal in Guantanamo," the group said.
In declaring him innocent, US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Rabiah was mistreated during his detention and that the only evidence prosecutors gathered against him came from uncorroborated statements from other inmates.
He is the second Kuwaiti released from Guantanamo since President Barack Obama pledged shortly after his inauguration to close the controversial prison camp.
Obama has ordered Guantanamo shuttered by January 22, but White House officials have admitted they may not meet the deadline as they encounter diplomatic, legal and political setbacks to the plans.
Only a trickle of detainees have been transferred from the jail since Obama took office.
In October, the other Kuwaiti detainee, 34-year-old Khaled al-Mutairi, was transferred back to the Gulf state.
Two more Kuwaiti prisoners still linger in Guantanamo: Fawzi al-Odah, whose detention Kollar-Kotelly has said is justified, and Fayiz al-Kandari, who has been handed war crimes charges by the former military tribunals set up by Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.
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