The administration should push to transfer remaining uncharged men and settle cases of charged men

Jan 11, 2025, New York – On the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement: 

With the transfer of 11 men this week, the number of people imprisoned at Guantánamo is down to 15 out of the 780 men and boys who have been held there. This progress is the result of a long political and legal struggle led by the imprisoned men and boys themselves. And now the Trump presidency looms. 

In the final days of his administration, President Biden should work to transfer the six remaining uncharged men, three of whom have long been approved for transfer, including our client Guleed Hassan Duran. If these men cannot be transferred by the end of his administration, President Biden should stand down in opposing habeas cases for anyone uncharged but still left at Guantánamo, so that the courts can promptly order their release in the coming months. It makes no sense from a legal or policy perspective for President Biden to fight to detain men, who he says he does not want to detain, in a prison he says he wants to close, years after he ended the war in Afghanistan. President Biden should also allow the resolution of the cases of charged men through mutually acceptable plea deals, which is the only way to resolve the failed military commissions and achieve some measure of justice and accountability for all involved. 

It is long past the time to close the detention facility at Guantanamo. President Biden can, and should, do it now.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has led the legal battle over Guantánamo for 23 years – representing clients in two Supreme Court cases and organizing and coordinating hundreds of pro bono lawyers across the country, ensuring that nearly all the men detained at Guantánamo have had the option of legal representation. Among other Guantánamo cases, the Center has represented the families of men who died at Guantánamo, men who have been released and are seeking justice in international courts, and men who were charged before the military commissions.