Defense Department transfers five Guantanamo Bay prisoners to UAE

The Obama administration appears to be moving toward fulfilling one of the president's campaign promises: shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.

The Department of Defense (DoD) last weekend ordered the transfer of five prisoners to facilities in the United Arab Emirates. The order stems from a 2009 executive order that set up a task force to review individual prisoner cases.

Obama recently vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act over language that prevented him from closing the Guantanamo facility, part of a larger battle between Obama and Republican congressional leaders over where Guantanamo detainees should be moved. Congressional and state leaders are concerned about bringing potentially dangerous terror suspects onto U.S. soil.

The detention center has held suspected terrorists captured by U.S. military forces since 2002. The prison has been a source of global controversy, as it has detained men and boys suspected of having connections with terrorist activities without trial. More than 700 detainees were once held in Guantanamo Bay. The latest transfers to the UAE bring that number down to 107.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has been calling on the U.S. to close the facility since 2006, citing indefinite detention as a violation of international law and human rights. The 2006 report directed the U.S. to “either bring all detainees to trial or release them without further delay.”

The DoD statement announcing the prisoner transfers said the operation took security and humane treatment into account while commending the Emirati government for working with the U.S. to coordinate the move.

“The United States is grateful to the Government of the United Arab Emirates for its willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the statement said.