Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)Congress passed the Authorization to use Military Force in the wake of the devastating attacks on United States soil on September 11, 2001. (2)Many persons captured during Operation Enduring Freedom and otherwise were transferred to Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (hereinafter in this section referred to as Guantanamo Bay). (3)The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is the only complex in the world that can safely hold individuals that pose a high-security risk to the United States. (4)Such facility is a secure location away from population centers, provides maximum security required to prevent escape, provides multiple levels of confinement opportunities based on compliance of the detainee, and provides medical care not available to a majority of the population of the world. (5)As of the date of the enactment of this Act, there are 198 individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay. (6)These detainees include terrorist trainers, terrorist financiers, bomb makers, Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards, terrorist recruiters and facilitators, and would-be suicide bombers. (7)Detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay fall into the following three categories: (A)Detainees who have been cleared for release, but for whom the United States has not been able to find a foreign country willing to accept them. (B)Detainees who have been tried, had charges referred to trial, or are awaiting for referral to trial, including for alleged violations of the law of war. (C)Detainees who either pose a high threat to the United States or who have been placed in preventive detention to stop them from returning to the battlefield. (8)Although 779 individuals have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay since early 2002, the substantial majority of Guantanamo Bay detainees have ultimately been transferred to a third country for continued detention or release. (9)Since 2002, of the 779 total detainees, more than 550 have departed Guantanamo Bay for other countries, including Albania, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen. (10)In the Department of State publication entitled “Country Reports on Terrorism 2008”, printed on April 30, 2009, there are listed 22 nations and regions that are considered to be terrorist safe havens and 4 nations considered to be state sponsors of terrorism. (11)As of the date of the enactment of this Act, individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred for detention or release to 4 of the 22 regions or nations considered terrorist safe havens and 2 of the 4 nations listed as State Sponsors of terrorism. (12)Iraq is recognized as a nation with terrorist activity by the Department of State, and at least 7 individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released into Iraq. (13)Afghanistan is recognized as a terrorist safe haven by the Department of State, and at least 199 individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released into Afghanistan. (14)Pakistan is recognized as a terrorist safe haven by the Department of State, and at least 63 individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released into Pakistan. (15)Iran is recognized as “the most active state sponsor of terrorism” by the Department of State, and at least 2 individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released into Iran. (16)Sudan is recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism by the Department of State, and at least 9 individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released into Sudan. (17)Yemen is recognized as a terrorist safe haven by the Department of State, and at least 21 individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released into Yemen. (18)There are approximately 90 Yemeni nationals who are detained at Guantanamo Bay as of the date of the enactment of this Act, approximately 45 of which have been qualified for repatriation. (19)Said Ali al-Shihri, who is suspected of involvement in the bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen on September 17, 2008, was released from detention at Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia in 2007, passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program, and has resurfaced as the new deputy leader of al Qaeda in Yemen. (20)On December 25, 2009, there was an attempted terrorist attack on American soil when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab detonated an explosive device that fortunately malfunctioned. (21)Al Qaeda in Yemen has declared that it trained Abdulmutallab, who now has sworn charges against him, in terrorist activity. (22)Although President Obama has temporarily halted the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, detainees are still permitted to be transferred to other nations recognized by the Department of State as being complicit in terrorist activity, being that they are terrorist safe havens or state sponsors of terrorism. (23)According to the Department of Defense special report entitled “Ex-Guantanamo Detainees Who Have Returned to the Fight” published on April 7, 2009, 14 percent of the former Guantanamo Bay detainees have been confirmed or suspected of reengaging in terrorist activities. (24)The special report also says “of the more than 530 Guantanamo detainees transferred from Department of Defense custody at Guantanamo Bay, 27 were confirmed and 47 were suspected of reengaging in terrorist activity. Between December 2008 and March 2009, nine detainees were added to the confirmed list, six of whom were previously on the suspected list.”. (25)It has been reported that the recidivism rate for Guantanamo Bay detainees that have been transferred or released from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has risen from 14 percent to 20 percent since the special report was published. (26)The threat to the national security interests of the United States and the welfare of its people is at a greater risk when Guantanamo Bay detainees are transferred or released into nations recognized as terrorist safe havens or state sponsors of terrorism. (27)The world is globally connected and mobile and allows for the transport of individuals across national and international boundaries with minimal or no supervision.