HOOD demands the release of ex-Guantanomo detainees [Archives:2007/1062/Local News]

SANA'A, JUNE, 24 ) Yemen's National Organization for Defending Rights and Liberties, known as Hood, demands the immediate release of the four ex-Guantanomo prisoners that U.S set free last week.

“We sent a massage to the political security asking them to declare the identity of the four prisoners and to release them immediately” said Ahmed Arman, an activist and a lawyer in Hood, who confirmed that re-arresting those men without charging them is illegal measure especially when they are prevented to meet lawyers or any family members or relatives. “We insisted on releasing the four men especially Fwaz Numan Mahdi who suffers mental illness as we were informed” Arman said.

It is worth mentioning that Yemen has received, last Monday, four of its citizens who were detained in Guantanamo. The four prisoners are Fwaz Numan Mhdi, Sadeq Mohammed Sa'eed, Hani Abdu Musleh Albadani, and Ali Mussen Saleh, according to the Defense Ministry's website. The four Yemenis were among six detainees the U.S announced transferring back to their countries last Tuesday, including two Tunisians.

Yemeni security had already re-arrested a number of Yemeni ex-Guantanamo detainees before they were tried, accusing them of forgery, however no one accused of terror links.

According to the U.S Defense Department, there are, at the present time, about 375 men held in its military base in southeast Cuba on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or Taliban.

The Department said that 405 detainees were released and returned to their home countries. They are from Albania, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Yemen. Also, it indicated that about 80 of the remaining prisoners have been cleared for transfer or release and are awaiting this determination.
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