Yemeni Ambassador presses America to release Yemenis from Guantanamo

Following the latest developments related to the Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo Bay, the Yemeni Ambassador to the United States, Abdul-Wahab al-Hajri met with the lawyers representing the Yemeni captives in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.  

Al-Hajri reported that the Yemeni government in Sana'a has commenced a program to rehabilitate the detainees that are freed from Guantanamo prison, pointing out that Yemen is eager to repatriate its citizens. 

In his opinion the detention of the Yemeni citizens in the American naval base in Cuba, mostly without being charges and despite the decision of the Supreme Court of America to grant the detainees the right to appeal their arrest is a flagrant violation of international laws.  The attorney's committee for defending Guantanamo detainees praised the efforts of the Yemeni government to secure the release of their citizens in the American Bay. They noted the importance of the American Court’s recent decision, which stated that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in the civilian courts of America according to the American constitution.  

They also critiqued the American administration in its treatment of the Yemeni detainees, hoping that the American policy will not obstruct the return of the detainees after being retained under hard conditions for the past six years. 

Related news announced during a press conference organized by the National Authority for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms (HOOD) with the executive manager of the International Civil and Support Organization in Sudan, the Yemeni detainee Dr. Ayman ba Tarfi appeared as the media symbol representing all the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, overshadowing al-Jazeera cameraman Sami Al-Hajj, who was released last month after six years in Guantanamo.

Dr. Ba Tarfi is a Yemeni citizen from an Egyptian mother and a Yemeni father. He lived in Saudi Arabia and was arrested under suspicion of being Ayman al-Dhwaheri, the second most important member of al-Qaeda. Later on he was accused of being the private doctor of Osama bin Laden. Some reports confirmed that he lost his sanity because he was tortured during the several years in prison. According to Sami al-Hajj, many of the Guantanamo detainees suffered mental trauma due to hallucinogenic pills that they were forced to induce. 

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